North Carolina shooting the lights out pushed them past Indiana and into the Elite Eight
The Sweet 16 matchup between the No. 1 seeded North Carolina Tar Heels and the No. 5 seed Indiana Hoosiers in the East Region was one of the most highly anticipated of the round considering the tradition and the caliber of the two programs squaring off in the matchup. If only that narrative had actually translated onto the court in March Madness on Friday night in the Wells Fargo Center.
North Carolina came out of the gate absolutely red hot, particularly senior point guard Marcus Paige. Despite the fact that Paige’s shooting woes have been widely noted by Tar Heels and non-Tar Heels fans alike throughout the entire season, the senior came out of the gate blazing hot by scoring 12 of North Carolina’s first 14 points on four-straight made threes.
Paige’s hot shooting from beyond the arc right from the opening tip set the tone for the Tar Heels as a whole as they seemingly couldn’t miss from long range at any point in the night—hitting on over 50 percent of their three-point attempts. Throw in the fact that Brice Johnson, after a shaky start to the game, got going on the interior and everything was coming up Carolina blue in Philadelphia.
Yogi Ferrell and Troy Williams made things interesting early in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to really make a dent in the lead that North Carolina built. The Tar Heels then pulled even further ahead as the final buzzer drew closer to secure a dominant win to move onto the Elite Eight.
Three Stars
Marcus Paige, North Carolina – 21 points, six assists, one rebound
Brice Johnson, North Carolina – 20 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks
Yogi Ferrell, Indiana – 25 points, four assists, three rebounds
Highlights
"Yogi finds the big fella for the dunk! #Sweet16 https://t.co/pHGw38mCwM— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 26, 2016"
Next Game
The Tar Heels now move onto the Elite Eight where they will face a fellow ACC in the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
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