ANNAPOLIS, Md.
It was one of those sluggish starts that, in usual times, might have had North Carolina players looking around at each other, wondering when Marcus Paige, the senior point guard, would ignite something with a timely 3-pointer, or maybe a baseline floater.
But Paige was on the bench, his right hand wrapped in a bandage, and the Tar Heels were left to fend for themselves. Eventually they did in an 91-67 victory against Temple in the Veterans Classic at Alumni Hall, on the campus of the U.S. Naval Academy.
Paige is expected to miss the first few weeks of the season while recovering from a broken hand.