Marcus Paige leads North Carolina over Louisville, 93-84

North Carolina was badly in need of a prestigious victory - defeated last week against Belmont and dropped from the twelfth to twenty-fourth place in the ranking AP -, and it arrived at the first opportunity, in the championship game of the Hall of Fame Tipoff Tournament against Louisville. The hero is without a doubt the sophomore point guard Marcus Paige, who scored a career-high 32 points (58 in two days) shooting 9 of 11 from the field and 11 of 12 at the free throws line. Surprising impact of burly freshman Kennedy Meeks (13 with 12 rebounds and 7 assists, 5 of 6 from the field), center not very athletic but with a lot of brute strength and soft hands. Sophomore power forward Bryce Johnson added 12 points (6 of 7 from the field) with 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.
The Cardinals shoot 38% from the field (11 of 31 from long range) and suffered a lot under the boards after Montrezl Harrell (5 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks) fouled out. Russ Smith (top scorer of the game with 36 points, hitting 11 of 24 from the field and 8 of 9 from the foul line) and Chris Jones (20 points and 4 assists, 8 of 18 from the field) combined for 56 points, while the rest of the team ended with just 26 points shooting 7 of 25 from the field.