Maryland vs. North Carolina, 89-81: Full highlights, final score and more

North Carolina and a returning Marcus Paige outlasted Maryland in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge

The North Carolina Tar Heels met up with the Maryland Terrapins in the biggest matchup of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday night from the Dean E. Smith Center and it was always going to be a matchup full of electricity. Not only was it a contest between two former conference foes with a storied history against one another, but it was also the returning Tar Heels star point guard Marcus Paige facing off with another one of the best guards in the country in Maryland’s Melo Trimble.

The duel between Paige and Trimble was won by the Tar Heel and North Carolina in the first half. Though they slipped as they neared halftime, the Tar Heels were aggressive defensively in forcing turnovers, allowing them to get into their bread and butter of running in transition. Moreover, they were able to get a lot of inside-out action in half-court offense, which looked much improved with Paige at the point.

Maryland fought back at the start of the second half and tied the game up early in the final 20 minutes of the game, largely with Trimble leading the way. However, the Tar Heels and Paige turned the heat back up on their home floor. Paige and Joel Berry started knocking down big shots for North Carolina while they were fantastic at creating turnovers both with the backcourt and with Kennedy Meeks and Brice Johnson on the interior. Despite a ton of heart and effort from Trimble and Rasheed Sulaimon, the Heels just had too much firepower and edged out the Terps to hand Maryland their first loss of the year.

Three stars

Marcus Paige looked like he’d never missed a minute in his first game of the season. The star point guard finished the night with 20 points, five assists, and two steals while shooting 7-12 from the floor and 4-5 from long-range.

Melo Trimble looked like the star he is for the Terps, even in the loss. The point guard finished the night with 23 points, 12 assists, and two rebounds while shooting 8-14 from the floor and 4-5 from three.

Kennedy Meeks was huge on both ends of the floor for the Tar Heels in this game. He finished the game with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocks on the night, really filling up the box score.

Highlights

Odds

North Carolina came into the game as six-point favorites and covered in the win. The two teams combined to hit the well over on the 150.5-point O/U line.

Next Game

Maryland will be back at home on Friday night to take on Saint Francis.

North Carolina will be at home again on Sunday as they take on the Davidson Wildcats.