Rapper J. Cole, an instate native of Fayetteville, sat courtside. “First play of the Duke game, it’s all jacked up, in state rivalry, then they run the flea flicker”.
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How much did that mean to them? First, you can forget about it and focus on the next possession. “I don’t go into a game thinking I’m going to run more than I’m going to pass”, Watson said. “But hopefully by Saturday we can find a way to get it done”. “Cole walked in! He’s sitting right over there'”. “I got my first shot to go down and that did a lot for me mental-wise. He’s like No. 1 for me in terms of hip-hop artists”.
North Carolina coach Larry Fedora is equally awed by Clemson’s defense. “That was really cool”.
Paige, the preseason All-American who led the Tar Heels in scoring and assists the past two seasons, finished with 20 points, five assists, two steals and just one turnover in 34 minutes of action.
Every time Maryland would hit a big shot in the second half, North Carolina always seemed to have an answer. He dove on the floor defensively and was a constant voice in his teammate’s ears. “I just tried to totally invest in our team and do whatever the team needed me to do to help us win tonight”.
This year, there have been fewer mistakes, and in turn, more resilience.
North Carolina’s loss to SC joined Texas’ win over Oklahoma and Georgia Tech over Florida State as the most “Huh?!” losses of the season.
On Tuesday night, he “only” had a taped up right hand to protect a bone he broke four weeks ago. But it’s here, too, because of that season-opening loss and, in particular, because of what happened after it ended, when a team’s leaders came together and said, in effect, enough is enough. Not 30 seconds later, he came off of a down screen and buried a three.
On a night when fellow senior Jake Layman and junior forward Robert Carter struggled to stay on the court because of foul trouble – and Layman struggled offensively, period, finishing with four points on 1 of 5 shooting, missing all three of his 3-pointers – Sulaimon and Trimble kept making plays until they seemed to tire down the stretch while playing 35 and 38 minutes, respectively. With the running game dominating, Marquise Williams took a back seat putting up a modest line of 227 total yards with a touchdown and a pick. Wiley’s absence due to a torn meniscus has allowed opponents to double team Trimble along the perimeter which has caused Maryland to create more high ball screens.
After trailing by two points, Maryland missed 8 of its last 10 shots.
The narrative surrounding this game has mainly been praising North Carolina and its chances to upset the No. 1 team in the country.
So when was the last time he called for a lob?
And why was he calling for lobs? “Kids like Marcus are so conscientious and care so much, but I had a feeling the little rascal would be pretty good“. “I was anxious about how I would be conditioned because I only had one full practice of up and down”. The Tar Heels’ defense has improved since last season, but so has Watson, who has accounted for more than 380 yards of offense in each of the Tigers’ last five games. 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. “We don’t even know our offense yet, we know we got to get better on defense, like I said it’s only the beginning of the year”. “He played on a team that’s the most hated team in America everywhere he went, so he probably thrived on it. I thought he was terrific”.
Brice Johnson: He’s a star, plain and simple.
“People don’t realize it, when Marcus is healthy?”
“I’m a Maryland Terp now”, Sulaimon said. “Easy. Like it wasn’t nothing”.
If Fedora does remain with the Tar Heels, he will be the fourth SC coaching target the university has whiffed on.
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“Guess I was wrong”, he said. “Personally, I [do want it]”. It remains the best way to honor conference championships (through auto bids for each of ten conference winners) and then taking the next six at large teams should include all the real contenders.
