North Carolina withstood two runs by N.C. State on Tuesday night behind the play of Kendall Marshall to hand its old rival another tough and perhaps crippling loss in a game at the RBC Center.
Getting a dominating performance from Marshall at point guard, North Carolina won 86-74 for its 12th consecutive victory against N.C. State, its biggest winning streak ever in the rivalry.
Marshall scored 22 points — a career high — and hit four of five 3-point attempts while playing 38 minutes. He handed out 13 assists and was credited with no turnovers.
Marshall trumped the Wolfpack's defensive strategy. He isn't known as a shooter, so his defender often dropped off and doubled down inside on big men Tyler Zeller and John Henson, leaving Marshall open repeatedly on the outside.
"It's been the same story throughout the season, teams sagging off on me," Marshall said. "It's been tough. I've felt that I've worked on my shot enough to where it would pay dividends in a game. It just hadn't happened yet this year.
"I'm just happy I was able to help my team out and open it up for the bigs and knock down some shots."
Marshall scored in double figures for only the fourth time this season. His seven field goals and his made 3-point baskets were career highs. His shooting helped the Tar Heels make 10 of 19 3-point attempts.
North Carolina was the second-worst 3-point shooting team in the ACC, making 29.5 percent of its attempts in conference games to rank ahead of only Wake Forest.
Forward C.J. Williams of N.C. State said that the defensive game plan was executed about as well as possible, given North Carolina's earlier outside-shooting problems.
"We played the scouting report," Williams said.
"The part we didn't execute was we still have to contest. We can't let him eye the basket, twirl the basketball and then shoot it. He made a shot with a hand in his face, so I guess he was feeling it tonight."
North Carolina improved to 24-4 overall and 11-2 in the ACC by beating N.C. State for the 18th time in 19 games. All of North Carolina's starters scored at least 11 points. Henson had 14 points and 13 rebounds.
The Wolfpack fell to 18-10 and 7-6, and suffered their third loss in six days. They previously fell to Florida State at home and Duke on the road. The losses have started to jeopardize the team's chances of landing an NCAA tournament berth.
C.J. Leslie led the Wolfpack with 24 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out late.
North Carolina led 46-41 at halftime and never trailed. N.C. State fell behind by 13 points six minutes into the second half, but sliced the deficit to seven points at 62-55 with 11:25 left.
It got no closer.
North Carolina scored seven consecutive points to build its lead to 69-55, which forced coach Mark Gottfried of N.C. State to call a timeout with 8:39 left.
The Tar Heels carried an 82-64 advantage into the final 4:14.
North Carolina started strong and surged to a 19-5 lead in the game's first six minutes. Lorenzo Brown and Leslie fueled a 25-11 scoring run that forced a 30-30 tie, but UNC held its ground.
Baskets by Harrison Barnes and Zeller produced a 34-30 lead and helped the Tar Heels regain control.
Barnes scored 20 points and teamed with Reggie Bullock to hit five 3-pointers, but said Marshall's play led to the win.
"Kendall definitely stepped up," Barnes said.
"Everyone sees the assists, and they see Kendall running the offense, but it was nice that he was able to go out there and contribute and show people that he can shoot and he can score."
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