CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Marcus Paige hit a scooping layup with 8.5 seconds left to help No. 18 North Carolina rally to beat No. 5 Louisville 72-71 on Saturday.
Paige’s layup capped a frantic comeback from a 13-point deficit in the final 8½ minutes for the Tar Heels (12-4, 2-1 ACC), who looked as if they were heading for a second consecutive home conference loss this week.
Instead, Paige answered a shot for the lead from Terry Rozier in the final minute, then the Tar Heels survived two shots for the win — a 3-pointer from Wayne Blackshear and an off-balance putback attempt from Rozier — on the wild final play.
Paige, a preseason all-American mired in a slow start to the season, finished with 10 points on 4-for-12 shooting and shook off a right ankle injury that sidelined him briefly after halftime.
Rozier scored 25 points to lead the Cardinals (14-2, 2-1), while Chris Jones scored 19 in a strong performance from Louisville’s backcourt. But the Tar Heels contained Montrezl Harrell, Paige’s fellow preseason Associated Press all-American who finished with nine points and five rebounds in 38 minutes.
Brice Johnson led the defensive effort on Harrell and finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds. He also hit a huge shot, taking a pass from Paige and scoring in the lane with 38.1 seconds left to give UNC a 70-69 lead — the Tar Heels’ first of the second half.
It didn’t look like a very likely outcome considering the way Louisville dominated the start of the second half. The Cardinals made 13 of their first 20 shots — coming against a team that had held 13 of its first 15 opponents to lower than 40 percent shooting — and led 63-50 on Blackshear’s 3-pointer with 8:43 left.
But the Cardinals cooled off and had a couple of turnovers that helped the Tar Heels find some momentum that recharged the home crowd and helped them inch their way back into the game.
UNC closed within 69-66 on Johnson’s basket, then closed the gap to one when J.P. Tokoto tipped in his own miss near the two-minute mark.
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