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Taylorsville • Marcus Paige's mind moved into overtime, then and now.
Watching the telecast of his former North Carolina teammates' Elite Eight game Sunday, Paige was sure that Kentucky's Mailk Monk had forced overtime with a tying shot. And then UNC's Luke Maye hit the game-winner, sending his team to the Final Four.
Paige had a similar feeling last April — with himself in the middle of a stunning sequence and the circumstances reversed.
Paige's double-clutched, improvised 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds remaining would be remembered as one of the greatest shots in NCAA Tournament history if the Tar Heels had gone on to beat Villanova in overtime.
But Kris Jenkins' buzzer-beating shot topped him.
Paige, who's nearing the end of his rookie season as a guard with the Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA Development League, is left with the mixed memories of succeeding then somehow failing in the biggest sequence of his basketball career. He stood in a corner of the court in Houston and watched Jenkins' straightaway shot win the championship.
Asked to describe that emotional swing a year later, Paige said, "That's the question I've gotten a million times, and I just don't have an articulation for it. Fireworks go off as soon as the ball goes through the rim and everything you worked for the entire year — it's just, boom, it's over."
During one of a series of interviews during his season with the Jazz-owned Stars, who conclude their home schedule Friday night at Salt Lake Community College, Paige acknowledged thinking about how his shot could have found a place in North Carolina lore. It would have been remembered next to Michael Jordan's game-winner vs. Georgetown in 1982.
Paige's shot was spectacular, that's for sure. The Tar Heels, needing a 3-pointer to tie the game, ran a play for Paige on the right wing. Villanova's Daniel Ochefu made a diving attempt to intercept the pass to Paige, who caught the ball and dribbled twice, then jumped as Ryan Arcidiacono ran toward him. In the air, Paige lowered the ball to his left shoulder, then launched it.
"I don't know why I made the shot look so crazy — such an unorthodox, wild, random happening," he said. "And I didn't really feel myself do it. When I watched it on the replay, I was surprised, because in the game it felt like I moved [the ball] just a little."
The replay shows Paige barely celebrating, just waving his left fist, because he knew Villanova could answer his shot. But with overtime appearing likely, he loved North Carolina's chances. "My mindset right away was, 'One stop, and we're good,' " he said.
Jenkins' shot changed everything in an instant. Paige remembers Jordan consoling the Tar Heels in the locker room in Houston, creating another weird feeling. "You're kind of excited because it's Michael Jordan," he said. "At the same time, he hit the [winning] shot. It's hard to find someone who can relate to you in that situation."
Gordon Hayward maybe? The Jazz star almost gave Butler a victory over Duke in the 2010 NCAA championship game, but his half-court attempt banked too hard and fell off the rim. During the Jazz's training camp in October, before Paige was cut as a second-round draft pick, they commiserated briefly about their title-game defeats. "Neither one of us likes talking about it," Paige said.
More than evoking his own memories of the Final Four, North Carolina's current run makes Paige happy for his former teammates. Brice Johnson, another of the Tar Heels' 2016 stars, joined Paige this week when the Los Angeles Clippers assigned him to the Stars. "I knew they'd get there," said Johnson, who credited Maye with "a bigger shot than Marcus Paige." He also said Paige's was "by far one of the best shots I've ever seen."
Exactly where Maye's shot ranks in North Carolina history is subject to updating after the Final Four. As is the case with Paige's play, what happens next is more important.
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