“This team needed to get back to — and I told them in the one timeout — we were up 11 at their place, now we’re down 11,” said Louisville coach Rick Pitino. “We need to get this game back. But I need the old Louisville team back. I can’t have the one that just wants to score. And they dug in.”
The Cardinals capitalized — especially when UNC’s unquestionable leader couldn’t be on the floor. Just like the matchup in Chapel Hill, Paige rolled his ankle — an injury which forced him to leave the court and go to the locker room to get it retaped. On Jan. 10, Paige rolled his right ankle on Louisville forward Montrezl Harrell’s foot. Paige checked out of the game at the 10:30 mark of the second half before returning to the court with 7:17 left to play. On Saturday, he rolled his left ankle this time and exited the game in the second half when the clock read 10:46 before coming back with 8:20 remaining in regulation.
When Paige beelined from the Yum! Center court to the locker room, the Tar Heels led 53-44. When he returned, the game was tied, 53-53.
“I’m not gonna put anything on a sprained ankle,” said Paige after the game. “That happens all the time.”
Just like Jan. 10, the Tar Heels had a chance to take a lead in the waning seconds. Maybe a little more time than they were comfortable with — not like when they got the ball with 24 seconds left in Chapel Hill, just enough time for Paige to sink his layup with 8.5 remaining of the clock. But still a chance.
Out of the team’s timeout with 54 seconds left on Saturday, UNC ran a familiar play: Box.
“They did a pretty good job of defending and then I saw an opening,” Paige recalled of that play at the end of regulation. “So I popped out to the wing and missed a 3. Nate kicked it back to me and we just had terrible spacing and they ended up trapping me and getting the ball. That’s really all.”
It’s the end of regulation that shows UNC coach Roy Williams the distorted mirror effect college basketball can have — the difference one game can make.
“We were very fortunate. They controlled the game at our place for a long period and Marcus made a great shot,” Williams said. “I’m so pleased with our kids because they showed some toughness. And I thought today, when we had the big lead, Louisville stopped the toughness.”
There’s little to compare the five final minutes of Saturday’s game after the game went into overtime, tied at 60. The Jan. 10 meeting only needed regulation. And in overtime at the Yum! Center, the Cardinals were simply a different animal.
They continued to exert the dominance they displayed in the second half. In overtime, Louisville outscored UNC 18-8 to put the finishing touches on a nearly flawless 18-point comeback.
From the 17:51 mark on, Louisville simply wanted the game more. And it showed — whether through the game-high 22 points and 15 rebounds from Harrell, Louisville’s 44 trips to the free throw line on UNC’s 33 team fouls or the team’s 17-0 advantage in second-chance points in the second half.
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“They just grinded it out. That’s one thing we try to patent our game after: We just try to grind out wins, and that’s what they did tonight,” said forward Brice Johnson. "They were able to grind out a great win at home against us. They just really outworked us in the second half.”
Louisville grinded out a home win on Saturday, just like UNC did Jan. 10. Paige sees the similarities between the two games.
“I guess in both cases, the teams either got fat and happy, as coach would say, or we let up,” Paige said. “To get outworked and see an 18-point lead slip away, I don’t think there’s any worse way you can win, honestly.”
He meant lose. This time, Marcus Paige and his team stood on the harsher side of the mirrored glass.
sports@dailytarheel.com
