UNC men's basketball topples Orange in Jim Boeheim's return

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Marcus Paige got showered, dressed and left the locker room.

One interview, and in passing — that was all. He answered the question as he wove his shoelaces into a bow. Then he stood and smiled. And then he left.

For once, Paige was mortal. In the No. 6 North Carolina men’s basketball team’s latest win, an 84-73 escape over Syracuse (10-7, 0-4 ACC) Saturday night in Coach Jim Boeheim’s return from a nine-game suspension, the senior scored just three points.

And all was OK. The All-American, All-UNC, seemingly-All-World guard had no heroics to offer amongst the orange-clad masses of the Carrier Dome — yet UNC (15-2, 4-0 ACC) still won.

It was partly Kennedy Meeks, chipping in eight points in his first action in almost a month. Isaiah Hicks added a career-high 21, and Joel Berry quietly dropped 14.

“One person goes down, somebody else is gonna have a good game,” Meeks said. “Like Coach (Roy Williams) always says, whoever isn’t scoring, if we’re still winning, it’ll take care of everything. That’s our plan, that’s our goal — play as a team.”

So Paige left the locker room, free of his normal posse of reporters. Hicks and Berry lingered, picking up the postgame slack in much the same way as they had on the court minutes earlier.

And UNC’s trusted leader was gone.

Quotable

“I was glad to see him back, that was no question. I think it gave their crowd a huge emotional lift, and his team, as well. When I saw that his first game back was gonna be the University of North Carolina, I wasn’t the happiest guy in the world — there’s no question about that. But he’s a great coach, a great person — not just for Syracuse basketball, but for the entire world of college basketball.” — Williams on Boeheim’s return to the sideline.

Notable

For the first time under Williams, UNC is 4-0 in the ACC. The Tar Heels' previous best conference start with Williams at the helm had been 3-0, which most recently occurred during the 2007-08 season. Before Saturday’s win, the Tar Heels had knocked off Florida State, Georgia Tech and Clemson in conference games so far this year.

Three numbers that matter

21: Career-high points for Hicks. The junior forward excelled Saturday night despite early foul trouble. In addition to his 21 points, Hicks added eight rebounds, the most of anyone for either team. He shot a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor and made 11-of-13 free throws.

3: Season-low points for Paige. After scoring 30 points against Florida State in UNC’s previous game, Paige made just one shot all night Saturday. The senior guard finished 1-for-8 from the field, good for just 12.5 percent shooting. It was his fewest number of points so far this year, and fewest since his first-year season.

18.8: UNC’s 3-point percentage. The team shot 3-for-16 from deep, with two made shots by Joel Berry and one by Paige. The team came into Saturday’s game shooting 34.1 percent from behind the arc, but the Tar Heels’ struggles against the Orange were particularly poor.

What's next?

With classes set to begin on Monday, UNC will have a week off before its next game. The team will host N.C. State at noon next Saturday at the Smith Center.

@BrendanRMarks

sports@dailytarheel.com