Iowa native Marcus Paige gets ready to play Iowa Hawkeyes Wednesday

When the North Carolina men’s basketball team tips off against Iowa Wednesday night, it will be just another game — well, for everyone except junior point guard Marcus Paige.

For the Marion, Iowa native, playing against the Hawkeyes will be almost like playing another game in high school as much of the Iowa roster is made up of players that Paige played with and against.

“It’s kinda similar,” he said. “Just more people who care and more people who watch now.

“I like the fact that they’re coming down here. I’ve been home, I know what home is like so it’s cool to have them see what I get to go through every day and where I call home now and experience what it’s like to be at a North Carolina basketball game.”

Still, with the distraction of playing with friends from back home, and having more of his Marion community tuned into the game, Paige said that at least on the court, he'll need to play like it's just another game.

Against an Iowa team that is 38th in the nation in rebounds per game and 23rd in assists per game — he'll have to.

Coach Roy Williams only needed to look at the numbers to know why this Iowa team is dangerous.

"Well you look at their stats," he said. "I mean they’re averaging five rebounds more a game than their opponents. They have 11 guys averaging double figures in minutes played so it is a team.

"One hundred and nineteen assists and they’ve forced more turnovers than they’ve had, so they have a high percentage of their baskets are directly related to an assist. So when I’m looking at all of those stats, it makes you think they’re more of a team and that’s the most difficult kind to play."

But it goes further than the numbers. When Williams and his coaching staff looks at film of the Hawkeyes, he sees a well-organized unit on both ends of the floor.

"The thing that worries you as a coach is when you see the ball move and you see five defensive players move," he said. "That tells you they’re pretty good defensively.

"And on the offensive end if you see guys doing the little things, setting screens or making cuts to get people out of the way for somebody else that means your playing a team on the offensive end of the floor, too."

So for the Tar Heels to come out on top and represent the conference in this ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchup, Paige will have to put his personal ties and relationships behind him. 

He's confident that he'll be able to do that. But the same cannot also be said for everyone who's going to be watching.

“My grandpa is just one of the biggest Hawkeye fans you’ll find,” Paige said. “So I don’t know what he’s gonna do tomorrow. 

"Hopefully he’s gonna cheer for me, but he’s been a Hawk fan a lot longer than I’ve been alive so I can’t knock him if he slips up once or twice if they score.”

sports@dailytarheel.com