In a season of several firsts and loaded with the bizarre, little attention has been paid to North Carolina’s paucity of winning stretches.

More specifically, the details of the good times.

Losing streaks of four, five and seven games have been well documented, but since the Tar Heels left the Bahamas the day after Thanksgiving, they’ve managed to string together wins just three times peaking at just two games. One in December, one in January and one in February, and those just happen to be Carolina’s only victories since it left the island, too.

Sparking this curiosity is the current two-game streak the Heels are on, courtesy of wins last week at home over N.C. State and at Syracuse, the latter likely the team’s best performance of the campaign.

Each of the two-game flare ups are unique in how they came about and some of the key components in the victories, so THI decided to take a deeper look searching for any common threads among the wins and to satisfy a curiosity gauging the numbers from those games versus the others.

Here is what we learned:

*Three two-game win streaks equal just six wins, yet amazingly, the Tar Heels used four different starting point guards in those contests: K.J. Smith started the win over UCLA in Las Vegass; Jeremiah Francis started the next game, a victory over Yale at home; Leaky Black started the wins over Miami and at N.C. State and Cole Anthony has started the last two victories.

*Key contributors in the December triumphs were freshmen guards Anthony Harris and Francis, as they combined for 42 points in 75 minutes. Harris was injured and lost for the season late in the Yale game and Francis has played 18 minutes since a double-overtime loss at Virginia Tech on Jan. 22. So neither have factored in the other two streches.

*Christian Keeling played 17 minutes scoring four points in the December triumphs, 40 minutes scoring 13 points in the January wins and 54 minutes with 34 points in the February victories. More on some other individual Heels below.

*The Tar Heels didn’t trail in the final 13:26 in any of the six games and didn’t even trail in the second halves of four of them. The last time they were behjind in each of the games:

UCLA - 17-15 with 10:18 left in the first half.

Yale – 37-35 with 16:43 left in the game.

Miami – 2-0 with 18:43 left in the first half.

At State – 33-32 with 1:15 left in the first half.

State – 52-50 with 13:26 left in the game.

At Syracuse – 15-13 with 12:28 left in the first half.

*The Tar Heels have shot a combined 47.7 percent from the floor in the six wins, including 43.2 percent from 3-point range. They have made 70.2 percent of their free throw attempts in the victories, as well. By comparison, their numbers in the losses since leaving the Bahamas are 39.3 percent from the field, including 22.8 percent from 3-point range, and 66.9 percent from the free throw line.

*Defensively in the six wins, UNC’s opponents have converted 42.8 percent from the field, including 25.5 percent from 3-point range. In the losses since leaving the Bahamas, Carolina’s foes have shot 46.9 percent from the field, including 36.5 percent from the perimeter.

*UNC’s rebounding advantage in the six wins is 245-187, including 73-43 on the offensive glass. In the losses after the Bahamas, the Heels have outrebounded their opponents just 633-574 overall, including 202-152 on the offensive boards.

*In the six wins, UNC has recorded 104 assists against 81 turnovers but in the other games since the Bahamas Carolina has 218 assists versus 207 turnovers.

*Here are some numbers from how several key Heels have performed in the three two-game winning streaks:

-Garrison Brooks has started and played the majority of the minutes in the six wins:

UCLA - 5-11 FG, 2-6 FT, 12 pts, 9 rebs

Yale – 5-11, 1-4, 11 pts, 11 rebs

(10-22 FGs, 3-10 FTs, 23 pts, 20 rebs)

Miami – 7-11, 6-8 FTs, 14 pts, 5 rebs

At State – 11-20, 3-5 FTs, 25 pts, 11 rebs

(18-31 FGs, 9-13 FTs, 39 pts, 16 rebs)

State – 8-15, 14-16 FTs, 30 pts, 9 rebs

At Syra – 9-14, 8-8 FTs, 26 pts, 14 rebs

(17-29 FGs, 22-24 FTs, 56 pts, 23 rebs)

-Brandon Robinson has played in all six games in the three streaks, and note that Robinson was injured during the second N.C. State game and missed time on the court:

UCLA – 3-10 FGs, 3-9 from 3, 3-6 FTs, 12 pts, 3 rebs, 2 assists

Yale – 7-18 FGs, 5-12 from 3, 1-1 T, 20 pts, 3 rebs, 3 assists

(10-28 FGs, 8-21 from 3, 4-7 FTs, 32 pts, 6 rebs, 5 assists)

Miami – 11-16 FGs, 6-10 from 3, 1-2 FTs, 29 pts, 3 rebs, 4 assists

At State – 2-5 FGs, 0-2 from 3, 7-7 FTs, 11 pts, 6 rebs, 0 assists

(13-21 FGs, 6-12 from 3, 8-9 FTs, 40 pts, 9 rebs, 4 assists)

State – 1-4 FGs, 0-3 from 3, 1-1 FT, 3 pts, 0 rebs, 0 assists

At Syra – 2-8 FGs, 2-6 from 3, no FTs, 6 pts, 5 rebs, 4 assists

(3-12 FGs, 2-9 from 3, 1-1 FT, 9 pts, 5 rebs, 4 assists)

-Armando Bacot is the only Tar Heel to start every game this season, though he’s left three of them early in the contests because of injuries. He played just nine minutes at Syracuse on Saturday. Here are his numbers from each of the streaks:

UCLA – 5-7 FGs, 5-10 FTs, 15 pts, 12 rebs, 1 assist

Yale – 0-5 FGs, 2-2 FTs, 2 pts, 6 rebs, o assists

(5-12 FGs, 7-12 FTs, 17 pts, 18 rebs, 1 assist)

Miami – 8-11 FGs, 3-3 FTs, 19 pts, 12 rebs, 7 assists

At State – 2-10 FGs, 7-11 FTs, 11 pts, 11 rebs, 3 assists

(10-21 FGs, 10-14 FTs, 30 pts, 23 rebs, 10 assists)

State – 1-5 FGs, 1-2 FTs, 3 pts, 3 rebs, 0 assists

At Syra – 1-2 FGs, 1-2 FTs, 3 pts, 4 rebs, 0 assists

(2-7 FGs, 2-4 FTs, 6 pts, 7 rebs, 0 assists)

-Leaky Black started the two of the three streaks at the three spot and both games of the second streak at the point. Note he also played the four some at Syracuse:

UCLA – 2-5 FGs, 0-1 from 3, No FTs, 4 pts, 3 rebs, 1 assist

Yale – 2-9 FGs, 1-3 from 3, no FTs, 5 pts, 9 rebs, 1 assist

(4-14 FGs, 1-4 from 3, no FTs, 9 pts, 2 assists)

Miami – 1-7 FGs, 1-3 from 3, no FTs, 3 pts, 5 rebs, 6 assists

At State – 5-9 FGs, 1-3 from 3, no FTs, 11 pts, 7 rebs, 2 assists

(6-16 FGs, 2-6 from 3, no FTs, 14 pts, 8 assists)

State – 4-9 FGs, 0-1 from 3, 0-1 FTs, 8 pts, 4 rebs, 0 assists

At Syra – 4-9 FGs, 0-3 from 3, no FTs, 8 pts, 5 rebs, 6 assists

(8-18 FGs, 0-4 from 3, 0-1 FTs, 16 pts, 6 assists)

Pretty simple, as Roy Williams so often says, everything looks a lot better when the ball goes through the basket and he’s right. The ball went through the basket much more often in the wins and it went in less often for opponents in the victories. Now, better overall offensive basketball leading to shot attempts ihelped, too, as did better defensive work. So, if they move well offensively, have excellent recognition and are unselfish, they can play with just about any team. Play better and the chances at winning increases. Pretty simple stuff.