Kendall Marshall was not the option, that much was clear.
In North Carolina’s frantic final possession against N.C. State, Tyler Zeller and John Henson were on the bench. Harrison Barnes was given the opportunity but forced to kick it back out. All that was left was Marshall, standing near midcourt, breaking down a dug-in Wolfpack defense.
“We wanted to put the ball in [Barnes’] hands. He does a tremendous job of making those shots. Lorenzo Brown did a tremendous job on defense on that play. By the time I got it back, we didn’t have time to get in another set.
No problem. Marshall drove hard to his left, bumping his defender off him to get a clear look at the basket, which he banked home as calmly as Phillips Arena was not. N.C. State fans screamed for the call, a notion that Marshall did not shy away from. He didn’t agree with Wolfpack fans, either.
“I feel like in basketball in that situation, they’re not going to call a ticky-tacky foul. We just wanted to get something going toward the rim. And thankfully enough, I was able to get it up on the backboard and it went in."
