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Marcus Paige still the go-to man for the UNC men's basketball team

Late Night with Roy, the first practice of the season for the UNC men's basketball team, was held Friday in the Dean E. Smith Center.

Isaiah Hicks had a painful moment of deja vu at the end of the North Carolina men’s basketball team’s Late Night With Roy intrasquad scrimmage.

With about 20 seconds left, Hicks’ Blue Team holding on to a one-point lead, the White Team had possession of the ball.

Hicks knew who’d attempt the game-winner for the Blue Team. The sophomore power forward had seen the scenario play out many times before in the team’s offseason pick-up games.

Giving junior point guard Marcus Paige the ball with the game on the line has become a habit during pick-up, scrimmages, games, whenever.

It’s become an instinct, even for sophomore guard Stilman White, who has just started playing with Paige. White missed the last two seasons while away on a Mormon Mission. The year he left, Paige came to UNC as a freshman and quickly rose to stardom as a sophomore.

Late Night With Roy marked just his first time playing with Paige in front of the Smith Center crowd. White penetrated the middle of the floor, the clock ticking down with his team trailing the Blue squad, 41-40. As the defense collapsed on White, he kicked the ball out to a wide-open Paige, who set his feet and elevated for a 3-pointer — a familiar sight for Hicks.

“Oh, yeah. I thought he was going to make it,” Hicks said. “I was like, ‘Up, like another pick-up game where we lost because of Marcus.’ He always hits the last shot.”

Paige missed, though, and the White team lost 41-40. He couldn’t finish off the night with a clutch basket, like he did with his game-winning layup to lift UNC to a 85-84 overtime win at N.C. State last year.

But Paige’s performance in the scrimmage resembled many of his outings from his sophomore season. The point guard got off to a slow start, as the last player of the White team’s starting five to score, but finished strong to lead his squad with 10 points.

If anything has remained the same since the 2013-14 season, during which Paige led UNC with 17.5 points a game and was named a Second-Team All-American, it’s that the junior point guard is still UNC’s unquestionable leader.

His team in need of a bucket, Paige will take the shot. That’s expected.

But for Late Night With Roy host and former UNC basketball player Bobby Frasor, UNC’s reliance on Paige to score is one of the team’s biggest concerns headed into this season.

“Will someone else besides Marcus step up to knock down shots?” said Frasor after the scrimmage.

As a sophomore, Paige propelled UNC from beyond the arc. He made a team-best 86 3-pointers in 34 games played during the 2013-14 season. Shooting guard Leslie McDonald, who graduated, was second on the team with 43 3-pointers in 25 games while only four other Tar Heels combined to hit the team’s remaining 16 made 3-pointers on the year.

On Friday at Late Night With Roy, six different players made a 3-point shot, displaying some unfamiliar scoring versatility.

“That’s what we were lacking last year. Hopefully, it just picks up,” Hicks said.

He corrected himself.

“Hopefully, we don’t have to rely on Marcus all the time."

Spreading the scoring wealth may be in store this season for a UNC team that returns three of five starters and welcomes a talented trio of freshmen led by forward Justin Jackson, who led all scorers with 17 points in the scrimmage.

Yet, Hicks anticipates one thing to remain the same. Pick-up games and Late Night With Roy haven’t told him otherwise.

The game-winning shot duties are, for now, left up to one player and one player only.

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When in doubt, UNC gives the ball to Marcus.

“It’s kind of expected,” Hicks said.

sports@dailytarheel.com