University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Rapid Reactions
February 27, 2014 | Men's Basketball
1. What an incredible, huge, gigantic, gutsy, gritty, incredible finish by Marcus Paige. You just can't say enough about it. Everyone knew he was going to be the one doing it, he did it, and the sophomore carried the Tar Heels to the win. Paige scored 15 of Carolina's last 19 points over the close of regulation and in overtime.
2. The storyline with NC State was supposed to be simple: stop T.J. Warren (who takes nearly 40 percent of State's shots), stop the Wolfpack. Carolina did that in the first half, limiting Warren to 3-for-10 from the field, due largely to solid defense from J.P. Tokoto. But it was the rest of the NC State team that proved to be problematic, as they combined to shoot 9-for-17 in the first 20 minutes. Especially productive was the rotund Beejay Anya, who grabbed three offensive rebounds and shot 3-for-3 from the field.
3. That all changed in the second half. What else can you say about the battle between Warren and Marcus Paige? Both players carried their respective teams--it was as good a one-on-one matchup as you can have, and reminiscent of some of the very best one-on-one old-time ACC battles. Warren even shot through the variety of Tar Heel defenses, from the 3-2 to the 1-3-1 to man to man.
4. Carolina was hurt late by J.P. Tokoto's hand injury. That forced him to the bench and allowed Warren to heat up. Tokoto had been very effective on Warren through the first 30 minutes of the game.
Adam Lucas is the editor of CAROLINA.
