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.
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“The ball ended up my hands in a couple of those situations, and obviously I’m going to be aggressive, but I didn’t feel like I had to do it”, Paige said. “I thought he was terrific”.
That was the among the most important questions surrounding Paige’s return: Would he be in shape or would there be any rust?
In his first game since a Sweet 16 loss last March, Paige displayed the poise, creativity and outside shooting that have been his trademarks throughout his career. And how would others adapt to his return? About a minute later, he made another 3. Melo Trimble decimated the Tar Heels off the dribble, scoring 23 points and dishing out 12 assists.
UNC has won 11 straight games, the longest streak in the nation outside of the two undefeateds (Clemson and Iowa), yet found itself No. 14 in last week’s standings, ranked behind three two-loss teams, including ACC foe Florida State, which lost to the same Georgia Tech team UNC beat on the road.
About 83 percent of the time North Carolina’s offense will run a play, the result might be unremarkable and forgettable: a 7-yard pass here, a 2-yard run there, an incomplete pass here, followed by a run that might be stopped at the line of scrimmage.
Paige might have already missed some time, but he could end up being the Player of the Year regardless – he is that good. “I think he’s really reached out to us and really put some responsibility on us and not so much on himself. We haven’t had the best crowd so far this year, but they were sensational tonight”. The Michigan State-Iowa victor at the Big Ten Championship Game will go to the playoff.
Due to this alarming number, the Terrapins fell 89-81 to North Carolina in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, despite a second half surge.
North Carolina came into the game as six-point favorites and covered in the win.
“The Carolina basketball family has been great”, Paige said. Dodd and Cekovsky haven’t been great this season at getting proper position on rebounds, and they definitely haven’t been physical enough under the hoop.
No. 11 Purdue 72, Pittsburgh 59: PITTSBURGH – A.J. Hammons scored a season-high 24 points off the bench and Ryan Cline made four 3-pointers in the second half to lead Purdue (7-0).
The Heels threw a jump-trap at Trimble early on and double-teamed him coming off ball screens, not giving the star point guard much room to operate-he’d finish with eight turnovers.
Johnson, who finished with 16 points, offered a sheepish smile when he described the play.
“I just tried to do whatever I can to help my team win”, Sulaimon said afterward.
“It’s been as fun a group to work with as I’ve ever had”, Williams told SN in October.
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.
Joel Berry started alongside Paige in the backcourt and contributed 14 points, while big men Kennedy Meeks and Brice Johnson combined for 28 points and 12 boards battling down low against Maryland’s hyped-up freshman center Diamond Stone. All three are shooting over 50 percent and have helped UNC rank among the national leaders with a plus-12.8 rebounding margin.
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Paige, the Tar Heels’ leading scorer the past two seasons, had been hoping for an injury-free senior season after he played through plantar fasciitis, a painful foot condition, through most of previous year. Jackson is capable of beating a team in multiple ways.
