By Eddy Landreth
Staff Writer
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North Carolina is headed back to St. Louis, site of the Tar Heels’ 2005 national championship.
Unfortunately, it’s probable that Carolina will be without the nation’s top point guard, Kendall Marshall. Marshall broke a bone in his right hand when he hit the floor hard in the Tar Heels’ 87-73 victory against Creighton in the round of 32 on Sunday.
Marshall underwent surgery on Monday.
The injury deflated the excitement from the team after it had earned another trip to the round of 16.
“When you go to the Sweet 16,†coach Roy Williams said, “it’s supposed to be a lot more fun than this.â€
Marshall played the last 10 minutes of the second half with the broken bone. His teammates did not realize the degree to which he was injured until Williams closed the door in the locker room and broke the bad news.
“I was a little bit shocked, a little blindsided,†said freshman point guard Stilman White, who will be one of the players trying to replace Marshall. “Kendall’s our captain. He’s our floor leader. We’re all just a little bit down about it, but hopefully he’s good to go next weekend.
“Coach just told us he has a fracture in his wrist and people have played with this injury, but right now that’s all we know, so we have a whole week to prepare for whatever.â€
The tournament will continue for the Tar Heels so long as they win. No more. No less.
Top-seeded UNC (31-5) will meet 13th-seeded Ohio on Friday at approximately 7:47 p.m. at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. The winner of that game will advance to Sunday’s round of eight, with a trip to the Final Four in New Orleans on the line.
With a week to prepare, and four probable future National Basketball Association players on the floor, the Tar Heels should be able to defeat the Bobcats. UNC has a decided size advantage at all positions.
If nothing else, UNC should win this one with rebounding and defense. A committee of wing players should be able to advance the ball. In times of stress, Carolina could even throw over the top of Ohio to John Henson and Tyler Zeller.
White, Justin Watts, Reggie Bullock, P.J. Hairston and Harrison Barnes could all help in bringing the ball up court.
The games that come after Friday’s against Ohio are the most tenuous. The Tar Heels are not doomed, but their chances at winning the national championship took an even greater hit than Marshall’s wrist.
Marshall has developed into a total player offensively. He led the team in scoring against Creighton with 18 points. He’s been making that more and more of a habit.
He leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.48, which is the second best in ACC history. He is second only to Scott Machado of Iona (9.9) in assists per game, with 9.8.
Before the injury, Williams recently said that if Marshall continues to develop his scoring and strengthen and sculpt his body he would become an amazing force.
“He’d almost be illegal,†Williams said.
All of that could still happen in the future, but for now the question is whether Carolina will find a way to win without Marshall.
Zeller, the ACC player of the year, said that in the last several years UNC has been conditioned to push ahead. Life after the national championship season of 2009 has not been an easy ride.
“We’ve been through a lot with the Wear twins, Larry [Drew], Will [Graves],†Zeller said. “We’ve had three or four injuries this year. We all know that no matter what, we’ve got to play on Friday – whether Kendall plays or not. We’ll have to regroup, and somebody’s got to step up at that point guard position if he can’t play, and we’ll see what we can do.â€