A retrospective on the decade in UNC men's basketball

How to remember a decade of basketball at North Carolina? 

You could think of the wins in that time: 277 since the 2009-10 year, not including the six (at time of writing) this season. In that span, the Tar Heels have never had a losing season and have only missed the NCAA Tournament once, right at the start of the decade. 

Within those seasons is six top-10 AP Poll finishes; one head coach who took what seemed like zero timeouts; two national championship appearances; one redemption tour completed. 

You could, alternatively, think about some of the players who have come to Chapel Hill in the past 10 years — players like Tyler Zeller, Harrison Barnes, Kendall Marshall, John Henson, Reggie Bullock, Brice Johnson, Marcus Paige, Kennedy Meeks, Isaiah Hicks...

*Deep breath*

...Justin Jackson, Joel Berry II, Theo Pinson, Kenny Williams, Luke Maye, Cameron Johnson, Nassir Little and Coby White.

But more memorable than any stat or any name will always be those few moments that made it seem like everyone in Chapel Hill was holding their breath, waiting to see what would happen next. 

There were the individual performances, of course. 

There was Kendall Marshall tallying 16 assists three separate times during his career by making all manner of stunning passes.

Then there was Harrison Barnes scorching earth and hanging 40 points on the Clemson Tigers in overtime, tying the school record for points in a game from a first-year player while also hitting the go-ahead bucket and several free throws to ice the game. 

And when Luke Maye laced them up against N.C. State, he turned PNC Arena into his own private YMCA.

There was Coby White scoring 34 points against Syracuse by running approximately 100 mph the entire game in highlighter pink shoes, his hair flopping behind him and struggling to keep up.

But ultimately, the past decade for the Tar Heels will be remembered for three shots. 

The first one comes in 2016: Marcus Paige gets the ball from Joel Berry in the NCAA Championship game against Villanova and jumps in the air with seemingly nowhere to go. He extends his arms, brings them down in midair before shooting an awkward-looking jumper. 

Tie game, with just seconds to go.

It didn't end up giving UNC the win, but barring Michael Jordan's shot in the 1982 NCAA Championship, it will go down as the most clutch shot in school history. 

The second shot comes just moments later, as heartbreaking as the first one is spectacular. Everyone reading this knows how it went — Kris Jenkins catches and shoots, the buzzer sounds and the net swishes. UNC loses the national championship to Villanova, 77-74. 

Three hundred and fifty-seven days later, in the Elite Eight game against Kentucky, Luke Maye hit the third shot to eliminate the Wildcats at the last second and send UNC back to the Final Four. It propelled him from lovable walk-on to a certified star at UNC. 

Two games later against Gonzaga, behind a gritty Berry performance and many, many floaters from Justin Jackson, one clutch bucket from Isaiah Hicks and one clutch block from Kennedy Meeks, UNC walked away with its sixth NCAA national championship.

Those are the moments and the shots that defined the past decade of men's basketball for North Carolina. There will be many more of both to define the next decade. 

@bg_keyes

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com