UNC’s Marcus Paige expected to play Tuesday against Maryland in ACC/Big Ten

North Carolina says senior guard Marcus Paige is expected to return from a right hand injury for Tuesday night’s game against No. 2 Maryland in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

The Tar Heels didn’t finish particularly strong.

“And then”, he said, “stop (quarterback) Deshaun Watson from getting out and running the ball”. Moreover, he single-handedly addresses the Tar Heels greatest weakness in terms of shooting from beyond the arc as he’s shot 38.1 percent for his career in contrast to the 32.1 percent three-point shooting by UNC so far this season.

The defense, considered the most improved in the country, gave up 514 yards in offense.

Over the long haul, that meant taking every snap, especially at practice, as if it was the most important of the season.

He very much would like to make a more profound, more public statement a month earlier at the center of a football stadium in Houston, at the 2016 NCAA Final Four. Are they cause for concern, or a byproduct – in the case of the victories against Duke and N.C. State – of games that were essentially decided by halftime? However, the Tar Heels might need help in the way of teams losing to make the playoff even if they beat Clemson.

“You coach it when you see it”, Scott said. Kenny Williams and Luke Maye have struggled to get onto the floor this year but have plenty of potential if they are able to develop their games. They took ownership in the team. “I think we’re ready to this type of environment”.

Which N.C. State did, in some respects.

Brissett’s 4-yard run with 3:46 to play in the third quarter drew the Wolfpack within 35-23 before a failed two-point conversion run.

On the fourth drive, once again, Williams escaped a sack and threw the ball away to avoid a loss…a few plays later it was 28-7.

“It’s been as fun a group to work with as I’ve ever had”, Williams told SN in October. “Going into that first game, we knew that we had the potential to be good, but we didn’t know where we were”. This is the best football team we have faced. This is the best football team we have faced – they’re the No. 1 team in the country.

Clemson opens as a 6-point favorite over North Carolina. The Tarheels are 10-1 and 7-0 in conference play. It’s becoming an obvious concern for Clemson, which has won a head-turning six times this year when committing at least two more turnovers than its opponent, and has 10 coughups its past three weeks – all against three-win opponents. “If I don’t have to worry about it or think about it, I feel 100 percent”.

“We just had a lot of weapons out there today”, Deichmeister said. At this point a season ago, UNC had allowed 5,978 yards.

The defensive turnaround at North Carolina is one of the major reasons the No. 8 Tar Heels have their highest ranking in almost two decades and reached the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.

Paige said the most important component in avoiding a duplication of last season’s results is to become “tougher” in closing out games. UNC’s revamped, rebuilt defense hasn’t faced an offense, statistically, that comes close to matching the one at Clemson. “And that didn’t happen past year”, Paige said.