Turgeon did not hide his feelings in talking about the way the game was officiated and the physical manner in which North Carolina tried to stop Trimble. In fact he might be even better. With Paige? We’ll have to see. “I’m ready to get back out there”. “Cole walked in! He’s sitting right over there'”.
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“It’s been as fun a group to work with as I’ve ever had”, Williams told SN in October. “Preference will go to the No. 1 seed”.
North Carolina coach Larry Fedora is equally awed by Clemson’s defense. “That was really cool”.
There are so many great players in this game who could go off. You know, guys like Rasheed Sulaimon and Jake Layman for Maryland, and talents like Justin Jackson and Kennedy Meeks for North Carolina.
The North Carolina Tar Heels rank 19th in assists per game with an average of 18.3. He’s their leader and their star and their all-american. Coach Roy Williams confirmed the news on Monday on ESPNU’s College Basketball Podcast.
Back during baseball season, when the Mets had John Mayberry and Eric “Soup” Campbell hitting in the middle of their lineup, I started to look towards the next meaningful sports season for one of my teams. Or plantar fasciitis. Or any of the pain that bothered him throughout his disappointing junior season.
When it came down to it, when a team turns it over 22 times on the road against a top ten team, it makes it very hard to win and that’s exactly what Maryland did Tuesday night at the Dean Dome. And the loss had nothing to do with their goals for the season – winning the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Coastal Division and beating every team in North Carolina on its schedule to become, as it were, state champs.
But the Tar Heels already had been through way worse than that. “In that second half [Trimble] came out and was just on fire”. Trimble finished the game with a season-high 23 points and career-high 12 assists. But a Carolina team that has finally managed to claw its way to relevance for the first time in almost 20 years will come with a fire. But he saved most of his buckets for the most crucial juncture of the second half when the pressure rose after Maryland rallied from an early 13-point deficit to surge ahead. Paige – who is known for his savvy and shooting ability, not for his athleticism – was streaking up the right side of the floor, calling for a lob. With the senior guard back on the court, Berry looked much more relaxed and thanks to the defensive attention Paige draws, Berry had more space.
“Offensively we really kind of mirror each other, to be honest with you”, Swinney said. “I think he earned that over three years”.
So when was the last time he called for a lob?
And why was he calling for lobs? You never feel good after a loss, but I love the way we battled.
While they can’t rely on the three ball as much as they did Tuesday night, the Tar Heels with a healthy Paige will continue to be a force to be reckoned with. When he’s healthy, he’s far more athletic and dynamic that he gets credit for, and part of the reason for that is our short-term memory.
The offensive explosion from both backcourts and the tachycardiac pace left everyone wanting more.
“People don’t realize it, when Marcus is healthy?”
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“I’m a Maryland Terp now”, said Sulaimon. “Easy. Like it wasn’t nothing”. “We’re very similar in a lot of ways – both of us have a dynamic quarterback, and we’ve got excellent receivers and tight ends”. This is North Carolina’s first appearance in an ACC title game. They held that SC loss against UNC, keeping the Tar Heels out of The Associated Press Top 25 until Week 10 and until recently making them hang out near the bottom of the College Football Playoff rankings. “Obviously in practice we’re going to put huge emphasis on that like we always do, but I think we’ll get back to normal this week”.
