North Carolina guard Marcus Paige hits game-winner

Feb 26, 2014; Raleigh, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels players celebrate a victory against the North Carolina State Wolfpack by mobbing leading scorer Marcus Paige (obscured) at PNC Arena. The Tar Heels won 85-84 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

One of the country’s best, biggest and most historical rivalries is the battle between the North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils. Everyone and their (respective) mothers know about this. However, UNC does happen to have another rival. The in-state variety. The kind of team that they don’t get that much praise for beating, but will sure as heck feel the wraith if they were to lose to. That’s right. We are talking about the pesky, sometimes overlooked but always (well, mostly) competitive, North Carolina State Wolfpack.

All of that is a roundabout way of saying that UNC battling the Wolfpack is a pretty big deal, even if not acknowledge to the point of nausea as the Tar Heels’ rivalry is with Duke.

So when last night’s game felt like a dud it wasn’t as cool as a cucumber on the opposite side of the pillow. It was more like an aw-shucks situation. But what started as a first-half snoozer turned into a battle of two players down the stretch.

NC State’s T.J. Warren as well as UNC’s Marcus Paige went all out towards the end of the game. Not only did it help the entertainment value of the game increase, but it also put North Carolina in a position where a loss would feel like a punch right in the solar-plexes.

Thankfully for the Tar Heels, however, this happened:

Not to be outdone by Warren’s 36 points, Marcus Paige finished with 35 and that game winner because basketball is awesome.