Off the cuff: North Carolina's victory over Wake Forest was the 600th conference win for the Tar Heels program. That's more than any other team. Fortunately most of those have been prettier efforts than this one where UNC shot 31 percent and Wake shot 29 percent. Carolina seemed to have the game in hand at halftime but mysteriously went nearly nine minutes between buckets at the start of the second half. Luckily for the Heels, their defense was good and the Deacons' shooting eye was poor. Maybe it has something to do with those ugly, dizzying tie-dye shirts the Wake Forest students wear. Interestingly, neither team turned the ball over much. In fact, Carolina turned the ball over just six times and Wake failed to score any of those six times. Speaking of six, Kendall Marshall, who averages about 10 assists a game, had only six in this one but he lit it up offensively with a season-high 14 points. He hit an open three early in the game and hit another as the Heels were pulling away in the second half. He also was part of the play of the game when John Henson got a rebound quickly, moved it out to Marshall who immediately went upcourt to Reggie Bullock who scored and was fouled. It was all quick and the ball never touched the ground. It also gave the Heels their largest lead of the game up to that point at 28-19. Despite an ugly game, that was pretty. |
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