Lose a point guard that started 37 games in the 2009-10 season, and 17 games this season. Replace that point guard with a freshman that has started exactly four games in his career. As his back up, use a player that is a natural shooting guard and has had difficulty not turning the ball over. Add to that, host a team that is only allowing opponents to shoot 36% from the field, and score 62 point per game.
Sounds awful, right? 99% of the time, you'd be correct. But, in this case, the loss of Larry Drew II only meant more minutes for Kendall Marshall at the helm of the Tar Heel ship. Marshall played a season-high 36 minutes, scoring nine points, dishing out 16 assists, and turning the ball over only three times. That assist mark breaks the Carolina ACC record set by Carolina greats Phil Ford and Ed Cota. Meanwhile, Dexter Strickland played arguably his best game of the season as the starting 2-guard and back up point guard. Strickland scored 15 points and had four assists to only three turnovers. Dex also shot 6-10 from the field, and hit on 2-4 from behind the arc. As Tim Brando said, "addition by subtraction", and it was fully on display yesterday.
Top Performers:
Kendall Marshall - 9 points, 16 assists, 3 turnovers
Dexter Strickland - 15 points, 4 assists, 3 turnovers
Harrison Barnes - 17 points, 10 rebounds, 0 turnovers
John Henson - 16 points, 10 rebounds
Tyler Zeller - 16 points, 4 rebounds
During my preview I noted four keys to the game. Let's see how those played out.
1. The rebound battle must be won. Carolina outrebounded Florida State 37-31. Carolina came into the game leading the nation in rebounds per game, while Florida State was 9th. John Henson and Harrison Barnes both had 10 boards each.
2. Roy Williams needs to use timeouts efficiently. Kendall Marshall had not played more then 24 minutes in any game so far this season. I figured with the added weight of playing at least 30 minutes, Roy would need to use his five timeouts effectively to give Kendall some added rest. But, what do I know? Roy used one timeout with 42 seconds remaining to get Blue Steel into the game, and Kendall logged 36 minutes on the day.
3. Carolina needed to hold Florida State to under 40% shooting. In Florida State's six ACC wins coming into Sunday's game, and in five of those wins, the 'Noles shot over 40%. In both ACC losses, they shot 33% and 36%. But, I underestimated how quick Carolina would play with Marshall running the show. Florida State shot 47% from the field and lost by 20. After all, Carolina is coached by Roy Williams.
4. John Henson needed to stay out of foul trouble. I thought that Henson would likely guard Chris Singleton, one of the ACC's top players. And though he did match up against Singleton some, that job mainly went to Harrison Barnes. Singleton scored 15 points, but early foul trouble relegated him to the bench for the majority of the first half.
Game ball goes to: Kendall Marshall. The kid is as cool as you like on the floor. He sets a Carolina assist record in a game that nobody would have faulted him if he played poorly. It's also no surprise that Harrison Barnes' stats have improved over the past five games. Marshall makes everyone better, and the team looks more comfortable with him in charge.
Next up: Carolina at Duke.......2/9/11 @ 9pm.
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