The Terrapins didn’t escape with the win, but they played reasonably encouraging basketball in the second half, pulling what was a 13-point deficit in the first half to a 1-point lead midway through the second before things fell apart. North Carolina senior guard Marcus Paige is predicted to make his 2015 debut within the team’s highly-anticipated matchup with Maryland on Tues. night in Chapel Hill.
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Clemson redshirt-sophomore running back Wayne Gallman was interviewed by the local media on Tuesday afternoon and discussed various topics including his health status in anticipation for Saturday night’s game against North Carolina for the ACC Championship. North Carolina is 1-5 SU and 2-4 ATS in its last six games against Clemson per the OddsShark College Football Database. With Paige? We’ll have to see. “During the game, I wasn’t doing too good, and he just told me he was going to lead me”.
“It helps that I don’t feel any pain in my (non-shooting) hand”. The nerves subsided. His hand felt fine, he said, and he didn’t notice the light protective pad on the back of it, or that his two middle fingers were taped together.
As I noted in the preview, there is no way of knowing what kind of performance you will get from a player returning off an injury. Maryland made 12 of 26 3-pointers…. Brice Johnson added 16 points for the Tar Heels, who shot 53 percent to hold off Melo Trimble and the Terrapins (6-1).
Trimble finished with 23 points and 12 assists to lead Maryland (6-1), which shot 51 percent but committed 21 turnovers that UNC converted into 23 points.
This was the headlining matchup for the interconference series, pitting two ACC charter members with Final Four aspirations. He begrudgingly sat out North Carolina’s first six games, including a 71-67 November 21 loss at Northern Iowa in a game only scheduled to allow Paige to play in front of fans in his home state.
“I think he’s really worked hard on developing the team leaders”, said senior offensive lineman Landon Turner, a first-team All-ACC offensive lineman. The Terps are a young team, but if they want to be considered legitimate championship contenders, they’ll will need to prove that they can win big games on the road. “I didn’t love our team until tonight”. “I think he’s really reached out to us and really put some responsibility on us and not so much on himself”. (The front court, bolstered by power forward Carter, finished with a combined 30 points.) The more pressing issue was Maryland’s lack of production on the defensive end, which was glaring down the stretch. That depended on him making it through a practice later in the afternoon without any setbacks, though both Paige and coach Roy Williams sounded confident that Paige would be ready.
Trimble said that the difference between the first half and the second half was in his head.
Paige recorded an assist and then a made 3-pointer on the first two possessions for the Tar Heels, who pushed their lead to 13 points with 7:16 remaining in the first half. Rapper J. Cole, an instate native of Fayetteville, sat courtside. The renewal of old hostilities led to an old-school, big-time feel, with Gary Williams in the stands and Harrison Barnes and James Michael McAdoo seated on the baseline and Rasheed Sulaimon booed heartily in a different opposing uniform.
Devin Watson scored 25 points for San Francisco (4-3). In addition to Paige’s brilliance, point guard Joel Berry scored 14 points, dished out five assists and sank 3 of the 5 threes he attempted.
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North Carolina is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Maryland.
