RALEIGH — As the North Carolina men’s basketball team took the court for its open practice Wednesday afternoon, knocking down long shots and acrobatic dunks, fans screamed out to their favorite players.
“HEY BRICE, TAKE A SELFIE!”
“MARCUS, COME HERE! THAT’S MY BOYFRIEND!”
“HEY JOEL! HEY! HEY!”
She described Marcus Paige as her “boyfriend.” I don’t think they were on the same page pic.twitter.com/YdZJv326h3
— Brooke Pryor (@bepryor) March 16, 2016
The fans screaming their adoration were a stark contract to the fans screaming obscenities less than a month earlier as UNC dismantled N.C. State 80-68.
For approximately 360 days out of the year, PNC Arena is enemy territory.
Regardless of UNC’s recent record in the building or the photoshopped images of ‘Paige’NC Arena paying tribute to Marcus Paige’s historical heroics, it’s an away gym, often filled with angry crowds painted in red.
But as the No. 1 seed Tar Heels (28-6) took the court at PNC for Wednesday afternoon’s open practice, the red seats were filled with a light blue usually found about 45 minutes away.
PNC will be home for the week, giving the Tar Heels an advantage they don’t usually find in Raleigh.
The Tar Heels make their way into the stands to sign autographs at the end of their open practice. pic.twitter.com/FmIIOmkaxg
— InsideCarolina (@InsideCarolina) March 16, 2016
“That was kind of a goal of ours to end up in Raleigh, you know right down the street,” Paige said. “To have basically a home crowd our first two games. When they announced we were playing in Raleigh as a one seed, we were all really excited because it’s what we’d been thinking about all year.”
Though the Tar Heels are always visitors at PNC, they’ve had plenty of success on its hardwood. Roy Williams-coached UNC teams are 13-2 in the arena, including an 11-2 record against N.C. State.
Paige has an almost supernatural ability to hit long range shots in the building, knocking down 15 3-pointers in four games — including five in his junior year and seven during his sophomore season.
Paige’s last three games at PNC using a Wilson ball:
2/26/14: 35 points (career-high)
1/14/15: 23 points, 9 assists
2/24/16: 10 points— Cory Smith (@RCorySmith) March 16, 2016
“I like this place,” Paige said. “I’m comfortable here. Played here a couple of times. So I’m familiar with the environment. As a shooter if you’ve had some success somewhere, you think about it and remember it and use it.”
The arena was only a fraction full for the late afternoon practice, but by Thursday night at 7:20 p.m. against 16-seed Florida Gulf Coast (21-13), it will undoubtedly be a near-mirror image of the Smith Center as UNC fans make the short drive over to the NCAA first and second round host site.
“It’s basically a home game for us,” said Theo Pinson, a Greensboro native. “We get to use that to our advantage. We lost one game at home and we shouldn’t have lost that one. We’re just going to use the home crowd to our advantage.”