When Marcus Paige gets involved early, it’s usually a welcome sign for the Tar Heels.
The junior guard did just that Wednesday afternoon at the Greensboro Coliseum, leading the No. 5 seed North Carolina men’s basketball team to an 81-63 victory over No. 12 seed Boston College in the second round of the ACC Tournament.
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With the win, the Tar Heels improved to 22-10 overall and 12-7 in ACC play, while the Eagles dropped to 13-19 on the season.
Justin Jackson played well for the Tar Heels (Todd Melet)
UNC junior forward J.P. Tokoto, the defensive ‘riverboat gambler’ for the Tar Heels according to head coach Roy Williams, saw his gamble pay off against the ACC’s leading scorer, Olivier Hanlan.
“He’s big time, a big-time player, and our goal was to try to make sure he didn’t shoot a great percentage,” Coach Williams says.
In the first half, Hanlan struggled to gain much traction against the long arms and standout athleticism of Tokoto. Hanlan missed 12 of his first 14 shots.
Leading the scoring charge for Carolina was the aforementioned Paige and junior forward Brice Johnson, who both tallied 17 points. As a team, the Tar Heels shot a productive 49 percent from the floor and knocked down 75 percent of their free throws.
Marcus Paige for three! (Todd Melet)
Paige had more bounce to his step, saying after the game he was getting close to proclaiming himself fully fit. It’s the perfect time of the year to be getting your feet back.
“Coach (Roy Williams) didn’t talk about it a lot but I brought it up today as we coming to the gym, that we lost the first day we played last year,” Paige says. “That it was bad and we went straight back home. I was telling the guys, `You don’t want that feeling.”
The Eagles were led by 20 points from Aaron Brown, a graduate student who transferred from Southern Miss.
UNC took a 43-30 advantage into the halftime locker room and never looked back from there to race away from the offensively-challenged Boston College squad.
Brice Johnson played heavily in the UNC offense (Todd Melet)
It wasn’t just the scoreboard that favored UNC either. The boards were dominated by the Tar Heels as well. They boasted a 43-25 rebounding edge.
Next up for the Tar Heels comes a quarterfinal date with the No. 4 seed Louisville Cardinals. If the two previous encounters in 2015 tell us anything, it’s to expect another hotly-contested battle Thursday afternoon.
Roy Williams says he remains doubtful sophomore forward Kennedy Meeks will play. Meeks has been battling a high fever all week and has not practiced.
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