GREENSBORO, N.C. -- North Carolina's locker room went from a celebratory mode to one of tears and uncertainty in the matter of 30 seconds Sunday evening.
UNC had just earned a spot in the Sweet 16 by eliminating Creighton 87-73 at the Greensboro Coliseum on a day starting forward John Henson returned to the lineup, giving the Tar Heels a juice injection.
Carolina was so impressive in stretches with Henson back that it often resembled a national championship team. That, of course, is the club's stated goal and has been since the first practice of the season back in October.
That is also why the Tar Heels were in such disbelief and in some cases in tears when they learned that point guard Kendall Marshall broke the scaphoid in his right wrist after hitting the floor following a hard foul by Creighton's Ethan Wragge with 10:56 left in the game and could be out indefinitely.
Marshall remained in the game and even had two more assists, but missed two of three free throws. After the game, however, he immediately was examined by doctors, and by the time UNC coach Roy Williams got to the podium for his press conference, battling back tears, the Hall of Fame coach unveiled the news that Tar Heel Nation has feared. That anxiety went up several notches when starting two guard Dexter Strickland -- Marshall's original backup -- was lost for the season with a knee injury in January.
"Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first," Williams said. "Kendall has a fractured wrist and that's all I can tell you. We don't know... We do not know anything else."
So, UNC, the top seed in the Midwest Region, went from the high of recertifying itself as one of the primary challengers in this tournament to possibly a team essentially with no point guard.
With all due respect to freshman Stilman White and senior Justin Watts, neither of them are capable of taking UNC (31-5) much further than it already is, regardless of the rest of the team's talent base.
White was brought in as a late recruit for emergency situations, such as this. But he was the third point guard until Strickland went down, and he now may be the starter for a game or more.
"Kendall is a tough dude," White said. "We'll just see what happens."
Watts has seen spot duty his entire career, playing four positions. He's been at the point just twice in his lifetime, however, the second being last week in the ACC Tournament semifinals. He ran the show for the last four minutes versus N.C. State, and ironically, or perhaps not, UNC outscored the Wolfpack 11-9 in that stint. He plans on prepping for whatever develops.
"I will probably do a little work there, who knows," Watts said. "But we will know details when we get back to Chapel Hill on how to prepare and get ready."
As for Marshall, he was obviously disappointed. His red eyes told an obvious tale.
"Nobody wants to get injured," he said. "And I think what hurts the most is I wouldn't be able to be here to help my team out."
UNC is a team full of star-caliber players. But Marshall has been its most important player from day one. His teammates know it and he knows it. He already owns the ACC's single-season assists record and Sunday became just the second UNC player to record consecutive double-doubles in NCAA Tournament games after scoring 18 points and handing out 11 assists. Steve Bucknall also did it in 1989.
So when Marshall learned the news from the doctor, it wasn't just a personal thing for him.
"It hurt, it hurt. Like I said, first and foremost I hurt for m team," he said, almost choking up. "I want to be there to be able to help them to the best of my ability. What they told me, I took it a little harsh, told my parents, we took it a little harsh.
"But, I'm looking forward to getting back on the road and getting back to Chapel Hill."
Marshall is left-handed, so that it's his right wrist is encouraging, he said. He also said otherwise he wouldn't play next week. The sophomore from Virginia also has faith in his teammates, who have dealt with a plethora of adversity this season, including losing shooting guard Leslie McDonald for the season before it even started.
He also has faith in himself. He wanted to play because he cares so deeply about his teammates.
"Our players have a will to win, and the last thing a player's going to do is let a sickness or injury get in the way of a game that they want to win," Marshall said. "So, I didn't want to come out. Coach asked me if I wanted to, I said no, I was good. But, obviously late in the game it tested me a little bit."
And as soon as UNC's legion of fans could relax with Henson back, even more stress has been thrust upon them.
