For the past few seasons there’s been a trait missing for UNC that has been tough to quantify: toughness. It doesn’t show up in the stats and analytics don’t account for it. Most people see the term “toughness” and think it’s about fighting and bringing a physicality to the floor, but to a large extent that hasn’t been the problem for UNC.
No, toughness is also a mentality, and this team has done what recent UNC squads haven't: shown just how mentally tough they are. It’s the biggest reason they can dream of something bigger than just getting into the NCAA tournament.