Maryland vs. UNC: Score and Reaction from Big 10-ACC Challenge

In point guard Marcus Paige's season debut, No. 9 North Carolina defeated No. 2 Maryland 89-81 on Tuesday night in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. It is the ninth consecutive time the Tar Heels have defeated the Terrapins and tied the challenge at four games apiece.

The heavyweight bout was headlined by the matchup of point guards Melo Trimble of Maryland and Paige, who missed the first six games of the season with a broken hand.   

Paige notified the basketball world that he's just fine by scoring a team-high 20 points. 

Trimble played scorer and provider, keeping with Paige every step of the way, recording a career-high 12 assists with 23 points.    

Paige got the Tar Heels going early, scoring five of their first 11 points, and North Carolina had a seven-point lead six minutes into the game. 

That was all Tar Heel Illustrated needed to see:

Maryland, which has shown physicality and versatility, stalled early because of self-inflicted wounds. The Terps committed nine turnovers in the game's first seven minutes and 22 total. 

With limited ball movement, Maryland wasn't doing much to penetrate the UNC defense, either. North Carolina further settled into the game, and its lead continued to grow, as ESPN College BBall noted:

"

North Carolina has 12 points off 11 Maryland turnovers. https://t.co/rqmfuXuy07

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) December 2, 2015"

The Tar Heels shot 54.8 percent from the field and had five players with four or more points in the half. They led by as many as 12 four minutes before the break, but that's when the Terps finally woke up. 

In order to get back in the game, Maryland put the ball in Trimble's hands and let him make plays to open up the offense. The Terps impressed Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis:

Maryland came out firing in the second half, much of that thanks to Trimble and Rasheed Sulaimon, and managed to tie the game at 53 four minutes in. Sulaimon doubled his first-half output with two threes during that stretch and finished with 18 points. 

Trimble did his part, making the UNC defense look silly at times, as the Cauldron showed:

Trimble gave Maryland its first lead of the night, 59-58, with a four-point play 6:20 into the second. It didn't last long, though—seven seconds to be exact—as Paige eliminated the deficit with a three-pointer.

North Carolina managed to put Maryland away in the final four minutes of the game, opening an 11-point lead with 2:18 to go. 

With Paige back, the Tar Heels' loss to Northern Iowa seems like a distant memory, as North Carolina dictated this game against the No. 2 team in the nation. While they can't rely on the three ball as much as they did Tuesday night, the Tar Heels with a healthy Paige will continue to be a force to be reckoned with.

Postgame Reaction

North Carolina is going to be fun to watch as it settles in with Paige back.

Even UNC head coach Roy Williams said his team is much more dangerous when Paige is on the floor, per WRAL Sports Fan's Marilyn Payne:

Maryland head coach Mark Turgeon said this was a huge game for a Dec. 1 matchup, per CSN Mid-Atlantic's JP Finlay:

Turgeon was pleased despite the loss, per the David Glenn Show:

"

I told my guys I liked our team, but I didn't love them until tonight. It sounds odd because we lost, but learned a lot about them. ... You never feel good after a loss, but I love the way they battled. We got better tonight.

"

It's apparent that both UNC and Maryland are going to be teams to watch the closer it gets to March. The rest of college basketball has a tough act to follow after the Tar Heels and Terrapins went at it for 40 minutes Tuesday night.

Stats courtesy of ESPN.com.