Marshall, UNC roll past FSU

CHAPEL HILL, NC -- The question heading into this game was how would UNC respond playing Florida State, three days after their point guard Larry Drew II announced his transfer. In short, the Tar Heels didn't miss a beat. UNC beat FSU 89 to 69 Saturday lead by Drew's replacement Kendall Marshall who dished out a career high 16 assists.

UNC started off hot with the help of Dexter Strickland who had 10 points and 4 rebounds in the first half.  The key match-up was Seminoles forward Chris Singleton on Harrison Barnes, but Singleton picked up two early fouls and UNC took advantage with him on the bench building a 40-29 lead right before the end of the first half. Barnes finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Singleton scored 15 points and had 4 rebounds.
In the second half Kendall Marshall continued to put on a clinic, weaving through the Seminoles defense and finding Ty Zeller and John Henson for easy baskets and building a 16 point second half lead. The Seminoles made a run and cut the deficit to seven with 11:09 to play, but Marshall responded with his second 3 pointer of the day and pushed UNC's lead to ten.  Marshall's 3 pointer sparked a 20 to 9 run from Carolina that put the game out of reach.
This was a break out game for Marshall who shared the point guard minutes with Drew and spent the first half of the season coming off the bench. He was moved into the starting role a few weeks ago and hasn't lost as a starter. The win puts UNC in second place in the ACC heading into next week's rivalry game against Duke.