Q. Marcus, Siyani Chambers says you guys go way back. I was wondering what you've seen on film. How has he changed since when you first knew him?
MARCUS PAIGE: Yeah, we used to play against each other in AAU all the way back to sixth grade. We pretty much played each other at least once every summer coming through, and we played each other in camps and stuff like that. The main thing is he's become a lot better shooter, looking at his percentages and on watching on film. He's really comfortable shooting three ball now. Back in the day he was just using his speed to drive by people. So he's still got that really good end-to-end speed with the ball, but his jump shot has really, really improved and that's one thing we're going to try to take away.
Q. Marcus, how much has the emergence over the last few weeks of Joel Berry and Justin Jackson made things a little bit easier on you and in what ways?
MARCUS PAIGE: I think it's benefitted our whole team and made it easier on our entire team just because we're getting more efficient production from guys that play a lot of minutes. Joel's minutes have gone up and a lot better recently, and Justin's production has gotten a lot better these last eight or so games. It's helped me because they're both backcourt players, so it makes our backcourt more balanced and provides a tougher attack to defend against. But it benefits our whole team just because they're producing and their rotation players are playing well.
Q. And then Brice, how much does the more developed perimeter game make it a little bit -- give you guys a little bit more room inside?
BRICE JOHNSON: Well, for one, it opens up the defense for us. Teams usually try to go zone on us, so when those guys will be knocking down outside shots, it really opens it up for the post players down low, and it gets the other teams out of the zone and go back to man-to-man and we're really dominant when we can get it down low.
Q. For both of you, what will Carolina have to do to set the tempo tomorrow night? Is it imperative that you try to play with a little more speed and a little quicker tempo?
BRICE JOHNSON: Yeah, because that's just the way we're supposed to be playing. That's the way Coach has been emphasizing the way we need to play the entire year. The past two games, that's the one thing we've been trying to do. That really would help us in the long run. We really do need to be able to start the game with a faster tempo than we usually do.
MARCUS PAIGE: Yeah, we want to extend our defensive pressure. Harvard will run, but they run when they have the opportunity. We want to run every time even if we don't get a quick shot, just to run and get pressure and get the tempo to our liking. They're more comfortable in the high 50s, low 60s, but we want this game up, more possessions, so we have a chance to get the ball inside and get our break going. We're probably going to extend our defense, try to pressure them into some turnovers so we can start that break.
Q. Marcus, back to Joe and Justin, especially this past week in Greensboro, were you defended any differently when their shots were going down, especially the way they've been the last three weeks?
MARCUS PAIGE: I honestly don't think so. Yeah, I hadn't really thought of it honestly. I'd have to go back and pay attention a little bit more to that. But I don't think I was defended any differently, but I think teams had to pay a lot more attention to them, so that might have changed the focus for how they're going to guard us as a team. But, individually, I don't think that changed anything for how I was defended.
Q. Coach Smith used to say that each tournament was its own separate entity and that you'd have to build your own momentum as you go along. How do you take what you did last week with those four games up until the last nine minutes against Notre Dame and try to carry it over into this week?
BRICE JOHNSON: Well, we had some positives throughout the entire week last week. Those are some of the things that we need to do that we should have been doing all year, the effort that we gave, the heart we played with, the determination we played with. It was all great to watch and it was great to be a part of. I mean, we just have to be able to take that and just add it to this game and the next game and the next game because this is the way we need to play the entire time.
MARCUS PAIGE: Yeah, I agree. I think we've got to understand that what we did was pretty important for our team last week, but none of those games that we played last week help us win this game against Harvard. We don't get to start with any extra points or anything like that. We need to generate momentum by learning how we played last week. We played hard, we played smart, we played together, we did everything we needed to for a lot of those games. So we need to start with that same mindset and then that'll hopefully build momentum for this tournament.
Q. Marcus, watching tape of Wesley Saunders this year, how do you feel like he compares to some of the better scoring guards you guys have seen this season?
MARCUS PAIGE: Well, the coaching staff will probably have a better answer for you than I will, but in the limited time I've spent watching him specifically, he's really just a versatile player and can get to anywhere and score anywhere on the floor. He's a really tough match-up. I think J.P. will have his hands full, but he's accepting that challenge and he's excited for that challenge to match up against him. He's had a chance to play against some really good wing guards all year, so hopefully that'll prepare him for this battle. I think he was First Team All-League in Harvard's League or Player of the Year or something. Obviously, we're going to respect him and try to make everything tough for him.
Q. Marcus, UNC is not known for your outside shooting. You guys have been pretty efficient the last couple months. Is it difficult at times when the shots were falling to kind of want to lean on that a little bit?
MARCUS PAIGE: Yeah, we're not a team that shoots a lot of threes or does a lot of attacking from the perimeter, but we can't fall in love with the jump shot if we make a couple early. We've got to understand that our bread and butter is getting the ball inside, either throwing it in off an entry pass or driving the ball to the basket. Obviously, it's important to knock down some shots to keep some balance, but we've got to know, especially myself as the point guard, that just because we hit a couple outside shots does not mean that we need to deviate from going inside early and often and trying to dominate the paint. Because I think that's been a better sign of success for us this year than hoping that we're going to make shots on a given day.
Q. Do you happen to know where Harvard's coach played his college ball?
BRICE JOHNSON: Was it Duke?
MARCUS PAIGE: I'm pretty sure he's got connections to Duke. Yes, Duke.
BRICE JOHNSON: I think it was.
MARCUS PAIGE: Was that it? Yeah, we know.
Q. I didn't know if you wanted to add anything to it.
MARCUS PAIGE: I don't think Duke has got a whole lot to do with what's going on with this game, but it's an interesting side note. Put it this way. Yeah, that's it.
Q. Harvard is going to come to the floor with senior leadership. They played that up in their press conference. You guys get it from your juniors. Is there that much difference in that one year of playing experience?
MARCUS PAIGE: That's hard to say. I consider juniors and seniors upperclassmen, guys that have been through it. They've won their first round tournament game a couple years in a row. We have, too. So we're kind of in a similar boat there. They're not going to come in scared to play. They're going to be ready to play, and we're not going to come in fearing them. It's not one of those things at all. Both teams have enough experience to where this should be a highly contested game from the beginning. Both teams have gone on runs and played some battles, had some struggles throughout the year. It'll be a game where leadership is important, but I think it kind of cancels each other out because both teams are so experienced.
MARCUS PAIGE: Yeah, we used to play against each other in AAU all the way back to sixth grade. We pretty much played each other at least once every summer coming through, and we played each other in camps and stuff like that. The main thing is he's become a lot better shooter, looking at his percentages and on watching on film. He's really comfortable shooting three ball now. Back in the day he was just using his speed to drive by people. So he's still got that really good end-to-end speed with the ball, but his jump shot has really, really improved and that's one thing we're going to try to take away.
Q. Marcus, how much has the emergence over the last few weeks of Joel Berry and Justin Jackson made things a little bit easier on you and in what ways?
MARCUS PAIGE: I think it's benefitted our whole team and made it easier on our entire team just because we're getting more efficient production from guys that play a lot of minutes. Joel's minutes have gone up and a lot better recently, and Justin's production has gotten a lot better these last eight or so games. It's helped me because they're both backcourt players, so it makes our backcourt more balanced and provides a tougher attack to defend against. But it benefits our whole team just because they're producing and their rotation players are playing well.
Q. And then Brice, how much does the more developed perimeter game make it a little bit -- give you guys a little bit more room inside?
BRICE JOHNSON: Well, for one, it opens up the defense for us. Teams usually try to go zone on us, so when those guys will be knocking down outside shots, it really opens it up for the post players down low, and it gets the other teams out of the zone and go back to man-to-man and we're really dominant when we can get it down low.
Q. For both of you, what will Carolina have to do to set the tempo tomorrow night? Is it imperative that you try to play with a little more speed and a little quicker tempo?
BRICE JOHNSON: Yeah, because that's just the way we're supposed to be playing. That's the way Coach has been emphasizing the way we need to play the entire year. The past two games, that's the one thing we've been trying to do. That really would help us in the long run. We really do need to be able to start the game with a faster tempo than we usually do.
MARCUS PAIGE: Yeah, we want to extend our defensive pressure. Harvard will run, but they run when they have the opportunity. We want to run every time even if we don't get a quick shot, just to run and get pressure and get the tempo to our liking. They're more comfortable in the high 50s, low 60s, but we want this game up, more possessions, so we have a chance to get the ball inside and get our break going. We're probably going to extend our defense, try to pressure them into some turnovers so we can start that break.
Q. Marcus, back to Joe and Justin, especially this past week in Greensboro, were you defended any differently when their shots were going down, especially the way they've been the last three weeks?
MARCUS PAIGE: I honestly don't think so. Yeah, I hadn't really thought of it honestly. I'd have to go back and pay attention a little bit more to that. But I don't think I was defended any differently, but I think teams had to pay a lot more attention to them, so that might have changed the focus for how they're going to guard us as a team. But, individually, I don't think that changed anything for how I was defended.
Q. Coach Smith used to say that each tournament was its own separate entity and that you'd have to build your own momentum as you go along. How do you take what you did last week with those four games up until the last nine minutes against Notre Dame and try to carry it over into this week?
BRICE JOHNSON: Well, we had some positives throughout the entire week last week. Those are some of the things that we need to do that we should have been doing all year, the effort that we gave, the heart we played with, the determination we played with. It was all great to watch and it was great to be a part of. I mean, we just have to be able to take that and just add it to this game and the next game and the next game because this is the way we need to play the entire time.
MARCUS PAIGE: Yeah, I agree. I think we've got to understand that what we did was pretty important for our team last week, but none of those games that we played last week help us win this game against Harvard. We don't get to start with any extra points or anything like that. We need to generate momentum by learning how we played last week. We played hard, we played smart, we played together, we did everything we needed to for a lot of those games. So we need to start with that same mindset and then that'll hopefully build momentum for this tournament.
Q. Marcus, watching tape of Wesley Saunders this year, how do you feel like he compares to some of the better scoring guards you guys have seen this season?
MARCUS PAIGE: Well, the coaching staff will probably have a better answer for you than I will, but in the limited time I've spent watching him specifically, he's really just a versatile player and can get to anywhere and score anywhere on the floor. He's a really tough match-up. I think J.P. will have his hands full, but he's accepting that challenge and he's excited for that challenge to match up against him. He's had a chance to play against some really good wing guards all year, so hopefully that'll prepare him for this battle. I think he was First Team All-League in Harvard's League or Player of the Year or something. Obviously, we're going to respect him and try to make everything tough for him.
Q. Marcus, UNC is not known for your outside shooting. You guys have been pretty efficient the last couple months. Is it difficult at times when the shots were falling to kind of want to lean on that a little bit?
MARCUS PAIGE: Yeah, we're not a team that shoots a lot of threes or does a lot of attacking from the perimeter, but we can't fall in love with the jump shot if we make a couple early. We've got to understand that our bread and butter is getting the ball inside, either throwing it in off an entry pass or driving the ball to the basket. Obviously, it's important to knock down some shots to keep some balance, but we've got to know, especially myself as the point guard, that just because we hit a couple outside shots does not mean that we need to deviate from going inside early and often and trying to dominate the paint. Because I think that's been a better sign of success for us this year than hoping that we're going to make shots on a given day.
Q. Do you happen to know where Harvard's coach played his college ball?
BRICE JOHNSON: Was it Duke?
MARCUS PAIGE: I'm pretty sure he's got connections to Duke. Yes, Duke.
BRICE JOHNSON: I think it was.
MARCUS PAIGE: Was that it? Yeah, we know.
Q. I didn't know if you wanted to add anything to it.
MARCUS PAIGE: I don't think Duke has got a whole lot to do with what's going on with this game, but it's an interesting side note. Put it this way. Yeah, that's it.
Q. Harvard is going to come to the floor with senior leadership. They played that up in their press conference. You guys get it from your juniors. Is there that much difference in that one year of playing experience?
MARCUS PAIGE: That's hard to say. I consider juniors and seniors upperclassmen, guys that have been through it. They've won their first round tournament game a couple years in a row. We have, too. So we're kind of in a similar boat there. They're not going to come in scared to play. They're going to be ready to play, and we're not going to come in fearing them. It's not one of those things at all. Both teams have enough experience to where this should be a highly contested game from the beginning. Both teams have gone on runs and played some battles, had some struggles throughout the year. It'll be a game where leadership is important, but I think it kind of cancels each other out because both teams are so experienced.
