N.C. State had the chip on its shoulder and the Wolfpack played well enough inside to beat North Carolina… but only if Kendall Marshall hadn’t decided to shoot. Marshall scored a career-high 22 points, including four threes, to lead the Heels to an 86-74 victory in Raleigh.

Marshall’s not going to shoot like that every game, hitting four of five threes and seven of eight total shots, but teams are not going to be able to leave him that open the rest of the season. He’s going to take that open three.

It was the first game since Evansville on Dec. 6 that five Tar Heels have scored in double figures. Part of the reason might have been because UNC coach Roy Williams sat the subs for most of the last 10 minutes because they took poor shots and turned the ball over when they were in there in the second half.

The Heels hit 51 percent of their shots, including 10 of 19 from three-point land. “I think we shot it better than we have all year,” Williams said.

State coach Mark Gottfried said his team played well in spurts, especially in the first half, but his players haven’t been able to put together an entire game.

For more on the game, please click here.