CHAPEL HILL – On January 6, Kenny Williams made 3 of 6 shots from 3-point range in a loss at Virginia. Over the next 27 days, the supposed sharpshooter from Midlothian, VA, managed to sink just five 3s in a span of seven games.

On February 8, Williams drained six 3-pointers in an 82-78 victory over Duke at the Smith Center. Yeah, he’s back.

“It was great to see Kenny get going early,” Cam Johnson said. “And when he gets going he can get going.”

Williams, who maintained throughout his slump that he felt good shooting the basketball and that he’d eventually get some to fall, took his parade of 3s against the arch rivals from down the road in stride.

“All of the shots that I took, except maybe one that I can remember, were pretty much wide open,” he said. “So, I was just taking what they were giving me, and I knocked them down tonight.”

The only other time a tar Heel hit six 3s in a game against Duke was by Hubert Davis in 1992. Williams has hit six 3s in a game this season came Nov. 20 at Stanford, which was the third game of the season. Only that night, Williams scored all 20 of his points over the first 9:02 of the contest. He never scored again.

Versus the Blue Devils, Williams drained four 3s over the first 7:19 of the contest. Were there any shades of Stanford going on in his mind?

“For a little bit,” he said, smiling. “I would say that.”

Unlike that night in Palo Alto, Williams wasn’t done yet. He hit two more 3s, including one that gave Carolina a 56-51 lead while in the midst of a 14-0 run very early in the second half that gave the Tar Heels a lead they would never relinquish.

It was a rebirth of sorts for Williams, though that probably started happening in the second half of last Saturday’s rout of Pittsburgh when he connected three times from the perimeter.

Williams was asked how big it was to have a few go down a few nights earlier.

“It was big because I knew all I needed was one to go down,” he replied. “Once I saw one go down, the basket started getting bigger and bigger.”

Williams is now 9 for his last 17 from beyond the arc over Carolina’s last two games.

He was 24-44 from 3 through the Tar Heels’ 10-1 start to the season, so the importance to the team of Williams draining 3s is obvious, as Thursday illustrated.