Carolina Freebies

It's not such a secret that come March, free throws often wind up deciding games. Last year, Memphis, an atrocious free throw shooting team (as they are this year), would have won the National Championship if they had shot even just slightly better than the 63% they managed from the line. It's also not such a secret that Tyler Hansbrough has been known to shoot a free throw or two. But he's gotten so good that its almost automatic- he's 68 for 75 (91%) from the line over the past 10 games, and 85.6% on the season, up from 73% his freshman year. Ty Lawson has had a similar jump since his freshman year; he began his UNC career shooting 68%, and is currently up around 81%. Overall, Carolina is shooting 76.1% from the line, making them the 2nd best free throw shooting team in the Tournament, behind only Maryland. Wayne Ellington, on his recent tear, has only had one (slightly) troubling stat; he's 5 for 14 (35%) from the line over the past 5 games. But, I'll tell you what... when he's shooting 60% from the field, as he is now, I think it's okay to have tired arms when at the line. I can almost promise that by the end of this tournament, we'll all appreciate the amount of work these guys have put into their free throw shooting.

By the way, the team free throw shooting jumps to 77.6% if you take out Deon, and almost 80% if you take out Deon AND Ed. I'm jus' sayin.