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Rich getting richer: Marcus Paige returning to North Carolina lineup

Kyle Ringo

One of the best games of the week in college basketball is now even more interesting with the announcement that North Carolina star Marcus Paige will make his season debut Tuesday when the Tar Heels host No. 2 Maryland in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

Paige missed the first six games of the season recovering from a broken bone in his right hand (non-shooting), but he has been shooting a lot in practices recently and coach Roy Williams said unless there was a setback in Monday's practice, he expected to have his preseason All-American on the floor against the Terrapins.

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Paige suffered the injury on Nov. 3. In other seasons it might have been more difficult to deal with the loss, but this is a deep and talented roster and Williams' team opened the season ranked No. 1 before a surprising loss at Northern Iowa. The Tar Heels are 5-1 and ranked No. 9.

Paige has made 225 3-pointers in his first three seasons in Chapel Hill and needs just nine 3-pointers to become North Carolina's career record holder for made baskets behind the arc. He is also vying to become the program's fourth Bob Cousy Award winner. The award is given annually to the nation's best point guard.

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Paige averaged 14.4 points and 4.5 assists during an injury-plagued junior season after putting up even bigger numbers as a sophomore. He also has no fear of the big moment and wants the ball in his hands when a shot needs to be made in the waning moments. He is a three-time North Carolina captain and adding his leadership and fearlessness into the mix could be what Williams needs to get his team on a roll.

Paige is likely to see a lot of Maryland star Melo Trimble on Tuesday night. That individual matchup within the larger picture makes this one of the premier games of the first month of the season.

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[Kyle Ringo is the assistant editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!