Healthy Marcus Paige ready to tackle NCAA Tournament

It’s simple.

“I play a lot better because I’m feeling a lot better.”

That’s what Marcus Paige said Tuesday afternoon in the Smith Center, about 48 hours before he and the North Carolina men’s basketball team will take on Harvard in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday.

The junior guard is finally healthy after battling plantar fasciitis in his right foot, sprains in both ankles and an injured hip throughout the duration of the season. And for the No. 15 Tar Heels, it’s coming at just the right time.

Once bogged down by extra training sessions and the stress of how much he’d be able to give his teammates, Paige now takes the court healthier than ever before this season and full of confidence.

It’s showing.

Through four ACC Tournament games, Paige scored 17 points against Boston College, 13 against Louisville, 14 against Virginia and 24 against Notre Dame. In three of the four games he exceeded his season average of 13.9 points per game, and in playing 36, 36, 36 and 38 minutes per game respectively, he played more minutes than his season average of 32.9 minutes per game, as well.

“I think I’m just moving better overall. I’m a little bit quicker, I jump a little bit higher,” Paige said. “When you play without worrying about anything and you don’t have pain, you just play. Everything is natural and instinctual.”

His teammates are reaping the benefits, too.

Once a bit wary in terms of his foot when it came to attacking the lane, Paige now penetrates the paint with no fears. That not only gets him on the free throw line more, but opens up his teammates more easily.

“Way more aggressive,” said junior forward J.P. Tokoto to describe his point guard. “Him being aggressive, it opens up a lot. Teams may sag in and try to help, then there’s a kick out to me or Justin Jackson or Nate (Britt) or Joel (Berry). Or, there’s the dump down to the bigs, or his own finish.”

Paige’s health comes at a crucial juncture in the Tar Heels’ season. Advancing in the NCAA Tournament certainly takes a bit of luck, but if 1997 and 2012 taught Coach Roy Williams anything, it was that it also takes a great bit of health. In 1997, Williams was coaching Kansas when guard Jerod Haase broke his wrist. The team didn’t advance past the Sweet Sixteen. Fifteen years later, in 2012, point guard Kendall Marshall broke his wrist in the Round of 32 game of the NCAA Tournament.

“Even in 2007, when I was inducted in the Hall of Fame, I took a few minutes apologizing to the ‘97 team for not getting to the Final Four because I felt like at that time — and still do — it’s something I can’t get over,” he said. “And then in 2012, I was dumb enough to get on the bus after we won at Duke and say to our staff, ‘If we keep playing like this we can play the last Monday night.’”

Now the Tar Heels will try again, and Williams knows the importance of Paige’s health.

“He has more confidence in himself when he’s healthy. When those shots go in it just gives everybody a better feeling,” he said.

sports@dailytarheel.com