Roy Williams isn't ashamed of the Tar Heels' schedule. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina has played nine games but what do we really know about the Tar Heels? They lost against Butler and Indiana, the two best teams they’ve played. And in the other seven games, all victories, UNC has rarely been challenged.

The Heels’ 78-55 victory against East Tennessee State was never in doubt, and it came more easily than even the 23-point final margin suggests. UNC looked good at times against ETSU, and the same could be said of the Heels in victories against UAB, Chaminade, Mississippi State and on and on.

UNC’s losses against Butler and Indiana exposed weaknesses. We learned something about the Tar Heels during each of those games. But UNC’s victories have imparted fewer lessons. I asked Roy Williams yesterday about how difficult it is to evaluate victories against inferior competition. Here’s the story. 

North Carolina freshman Brice Johnson has been productive offensively but he's still adjusting to playing in the Tar Heels' man-to-man defense. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — Through North Carolina’s first nine games, three players have started alongside James Michael McAdoo in the Tar Heels’ frontcourt. Joel James, the freshman forward, was the latest to have that opportunity. Before him, Brice Johnson and Desmond Hubert started, too.

UNC coach Roy Williams made clear on Saturday, after his team’s 78-55 victory against East Tennessee State, that he isn’t close to figuring out who will become the team’s permanent starter alongside McAdoo.

Then again, Williams said he won’t make the decision. The players will.

Updated 11:08 p.m.

CHAPEL HILL — About eight minutes had gone by in what became North Carolina’s 78-55 victory against East Tennessee State on Saturday night when James Michael McAdoo, the Tar Heels’ sophomore forward, glanced at the scoreboard. 

That’s all the No. 20 Tar Heels (7-2) could do against the overmatched Buccaneers (2-5), who scored their fourth point of the game with 12:22 to go before halftime and didn’t score again for more than eight minutes. By then, UNC led 34-7, and it led 42-12 at halftime. 

North Carolina point guard Marcus Paige is expected to play Saturday against East Tennessee State. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — Marcus Paige, North Carolina’s freshman point guard, is expected to play on Saturday against East Tennessee State. A UNC basketball team spokesman on Friday described Paige’s status as “probable” for the game on Saturday.

UAB hung tough for a while, but North Carolina used a late run to finish with a 102-84 victory on Saturday. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — It wasn’t often pretty, especially on the defensive end, but North Carolina’s 102-84 victory against UAB here on Saturday night left Tar Heels coach Roy Williams in a better mood than he was in earlier this week, after that ugly loss at Indiana.

Not that that’s saying a lot. A look back at the Heels’ tougher-than-the-score-makes-it-seem victory:

Updated 9:32 p.m.

CHAPEL HILL — This was the kind of response, overall, North Carolina coach Roy Williams wanted to see following a disheartening loss at Indiana earlier in the week. Even so, amid all the good things the Tar Heels did in their 102-84 victory against UAB on Saturday, there were still some moments that drove Williams wild with anger.

UNC guard Reggie Bullock said there has been some finger-pointing during some of the Tar Heels more difficult moments. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — You’ll recall that after North Carolina’s 83-59 loss at Indiana on Tuesday night, James Michael McAdoo, the Tar Heels’ sophomore forward, said he and his teammates had to work better together on the court.

P.J. Hairston (middle) and Reggie Bullock (right) are both recovering from injuries that have their status in doubt for North Carolina's game on Saturday against UAB. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — P.J. Hairston is still recovering from a knee injury he suffered in practice earlier this week. And Reggie Bullock is recovering from a hand injury he suffered during North Carolina’s 83-59 loss at Indiana on Tuesday.

Both players, arguably the Tar Heels’ two best shooters, are questionable for UNC’s game on Saturday at UAB. Hairston and Bullock were both limited in practice today, and a decision about their playing status will be made tomorrow, a team spokesman said. 

When things went badly for North Carolina during its 83-59 loss at Indiana on Tuesday night, the Tar Heels didn't successfully come together. ROBERT WILLETT

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — North Carolina sophomore forward James Michael McAdoo had some telling comments, I think, following the Tar Heels’ 83-59 loss here at Indiana on Tuesday night.

The game magnified a lot of weaknesses for the Heels: Transition defense, defensive rebounding, offensive execution. The Hoosiers outhustled the Tar Heels, regularly beating them for loose balls, and beating them down the court for easy scoring chances.

North Carolina has some things to figure out after its 83-59 loss at No. 1 Indiana on Tuesday night. ROBERT WILLETT

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — North Carolina entered its game at top-ranked Indiana on Tuesday night expecting to learn a lot about itself. Unfortunately for the Tar Heels, they learned they weren’t prepared for the kind of challenge they faced inside Assembly Hall.

The look back at the Heels’ lopsided defeat: