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The 3-Ball Cometh

If Marcus Paige and 3-pointers are contagious again for the Tar Heels on Sunday, the Irish are in trouble.
If Marcus Paige and 3-pointers are contagious again for the Tar Heels on Sunday, the Irish are in trouble.

PHILADELPHIA - Let’s recap North Carolina’s perimeter shooting this season: The Tar Heels are shooting 31.4 percent beyond the arc, the worst in the ACC and so far in school history. Carolina averages 6.3 made 3-pointers per game, a low figure considering it has players such as Marcus Paige, Joel Berry, Justin Jackson, and Nate Britt. But, they’ve been anything but consistently reliable.

Thus, Indiana learned Friday night in UNC’s 101-86 drubbing of the Hoosiers just how potent the Heels can be when on fire from the perimeter, as Carolina hit 10 of 20 3-pointers.

Obviously, that hasn’t been the norm.

In 12 games this season, Carolina made no more than four 3-pointers. It shot a season low 7.7 percent in a home loss to Duke, sinking just 1 of 13 that night.

In their Sweet 16 win Friday, UNC sank 7 of 8 attempts from outside by halftime, setting a tone that was key in building a gap between them and Indiana. Paige looked like a reincarnated version of his sophomore self, sinking 4 in the first five minutes and shooting 6-for-9 on the night.

What did Paige’s hot start do for his team? It energized and sparked an energy from every Tar Heel.

“Marcus is about to have a good night. When he's hitting three's like that all you can do is sit back and say we get him the ball,” said Berry.

Paige’s early rampage was pleasing to Isaiah Hicks’ eyes.

“Once Marcus made like 3 three’s I was like, ‘Thank God!’ Marcus when he’s on, his team is unbelievable,” said Hicks.

And just as Hicks said, Jackson and Britt added three more 3s before the first half ended. At the end of the half, the Tar Heels shot 87.5% from the perimeter, surpassed their season game average of 3’s, and had an 11-point lead over Indiana.

Carolina remained hot from beyond the arc in the second half, adding four more triples to the books, totaling 11 for the game, shooting 55 percent on the night.

To put that into perspective, UNC has only made 10 or more 3s in a game once this season, and that came in a win over Tulane at home in December when the Tar Heels drained 11.

Perimeter shooting hasn’t been Carolina’s go-to tactic this season. With Johnson’s monster emergence as a dagger underneath the basket, Carolina has narrowed its focus even more to hitting shots in the paint.

However, Carolina’s perimeter performance against Indiana showed that for this team scoring is possible from spot on the court, even beyond the arc.

And while perimeter shooting isn’t Carolina’s most reliable method of putting the ball in the net, if this performance by Marcus and the Heels continue, Notre Dame is in for an uncomfortably long night.


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