North Carolina senior point guard Marcus Paige wasted no time reminding the nation why his Tar Heels started the year atop the college basketball rankings, scoring 20 points and dishing out five assists in a 89-81 win over Maryland on Tuesday night.
Paige sat out the first six games of the year with a fracture in his right hand, but looked to have absolutely no rust in his game when he took the floor against the talented Terrapins backcourt.
Here are our top takeaways from the top-ten matchup:
- Marcus Paige: Now that he’s healthy, Paige has to be right back in the discussion for the Naismith Player of the Year Award. He’s the best player on a national title contender and does so many things for Roy Williams’ squad, namely staying out of foul trouble so his all-around impact game can be a consistent presence. Health is always a factor from him, but when he is healthy, there aren’t two or three better players than him in the country.
- Melo Trimble: Trimble was often the best player on the floor Tuesday night, but his turnovers are a problem for Maryland, as he tallied eight of them. You need him to be aggressive, yes, but Trimble has to reign in his decision making if he wants to lead the Terps deep into March.
- Jake Laymen: When he isn’t running the PF spot, it’s becoming clear that he’s not the same player. Long athletes deter him from his game, a game that is predicated on matchup problems against bigger, presumably slower or less skilled defenders. He gave UMD just four points on Tuesday which is beyond unacceptable for a veteran like that.
- Brice Johnson: He’s a star, plain and simple. The amount of winning plays that he makes is staggering and many of them don’t even show up in the box score. He can score, defend, block shots, rebound…you name it. He’s the perfect big man to compliment Kennedy Meeks and the UNC guards.
