HOUSTON -- One instant, Marcus Paige was hanging in the air, doing the splits, heaving the most wondrous shot of his life into the net in front of 78,000 people. He was saving the North Carolina's season, dragging the Tar Heels back into the national championship game, leaping into the air and pumping his fist. There were 4.7 seconds remaining, and the score was tied, and Paige was an idol who had performed a miracle.
The next instant, Paige was skulking off the court, wondering what had just happened, standing among bewildered teammates. His college basketball career was over, some of his best friends couldn't stop crying, and he could only try to avoid the confetti falling around him, the confetti falling for the other team.
There was no time left, and North Carolina had lost, and Paige was a sudden afterthought.
It could have been Paige. Instead, the hero of the most dramatic college basketball title game in three decades or so is Kris Jenkins, the Villanova junior who drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer. Jenkins' eternal shot gave the Wildcats a 77-74 victory and wiped Paige's shot -- just as bold, just as clutch, just a couple seconds too soon -- from the foremost bank of sports memories.
In an epic game, Paige stands as a forgotten hero. The Tar Heels teetered for the entirety of the second half, falling behind by as many as 10 points. Paige brought them back. He scored eight of his 21 points in the final 95 seconds as North Carolina whittled a six-point lead. He made a corner three-pointer. When he missed a layup, he snatched the rebound away from a Villanova forward and stuck it back. When Carolina had a chance to force overtime, Paige lived a dream.
Down by three, with the clocking ticking below 10 seconds, Paige received a bounce pass on the perimeter from point guard Joel Berry II, the ball barely passing the outstretched hand of lunging Villanova center Daniel Ochefu. Paige took two dribbles to his left, to about six feet past the three-point arc. Paige leapt and peaked at forward Brice Johnson, whom he knew had come open as Villanova's defense rotated to compensate for Ochefu's dive.
As quickly as the thought entered his mind to pass, he realized Carolina needed a three-pointer. Ryan Arcidiacono had jumped to block his shot, and for a moment Paige pulled the ball down to his chest, his eyes focused back on the rim. His legs flying apart, Paige reset his left-handed shooting motion and let fire.
The ball rattled in.
"We got 4.7 seconds to play defense," Paige told his teammates, "and this game is ours."
"No matter what, we were going to win the overtime," Paige said afterward. "That's just how the game was going to go."
Paige was an appropriate hero. A senior point guard, he had achieved uncomplicated stardom as a sophomore and overcome injury and a shooting slump as a senior. He double-majored in journalism and history, and his poise carried from the court to interviews, where he displayed uncommon poise and insight. He had played his best basketball of the year in March.
Monday night, he scored 21 points, most on his team. In the second half, he felt his teammate grow dejected, and he implored them to keep sprinting, keep fighting. He is a leader, and on the grandest stage, he led his team to the brink of overtime and, possibly, a championship comeback.
"There's 75 possessions in the game," Paige said. "They just happened to get the last one and made the shot."
"It's hard. because at some point tonight I have to take this jersey off and I never get to put it back on. I just have to rely on all the memories I have with my teammates."
Paige lost Monday night. He still created greatness. The national championship could have ended with a procession of fouls and free throws. It could have been anticlimax. Paige, by himself, ensured it would not. Jenkins' shot will persist forever. It would not have happened without Paige. Remember him for that, if nothing else. Remember him, too.
Sports on 04/05/2016