North Carolina, playing with John Henson for the first time since the first game of the ACC Tournament, got fired up against a physical Creighton team and rolled to an 87-73 to reach the NCAA Sweet 16.<\/p>\n
The win may be costly as Kendall Marshall has a broken bone in his right wrist following a hard foul. Creighton is a good team but not good enough to hang with a team of Carolina’s caliber and, judging by the physical nature of the Bluejays’ play, they knew it as well.<\/p>\n
The only legitimate way the Bluejays could beat Carolina would be if they were raining in threes and the Tar Heels were shooting poorly. With that not happening, the only recourse they had was to play rough and get Carolina out of its rhythm and\/or in foul trouble.<\/p>\n
I wouldn’t go so far as to say Creighton was a dirty team but did you notice the wink from Grant Gibbs after he slapped at Henson’s wrist, igniting Henson’s fuse? Gibbs got the foul but Henson got a technical as a result of his response.<\/p>\n
Gibbs, who played tough all day, didn’t get his second foul until midway through the second half when he roughed up P.J. Hairston, who also took exception.<\/p>\n
This is why, in part, I blame the officials for Marshall’s injury. Creighton was called for 18 fouls compared to eight for UNC but it was the hardness of the fouls and the obvious slapping motion of the fouls that officials should have warned the Bluejays about.<\/p>\n
Ethan Wragge, who committed the hard foul on Marshall, was turned all around and the slow-footed big man had no chance of stopping Marshall from scoring – unless he bashed him, which he did. Marshall hit one of the two free throws so instead of Carolina having an 18-point lead at that time, the Heels took a 17-point lead. Not sure the hard foul that may have ended Marshall’s season was worth one point.<\/p>\n
In addition to Marshall’s injury, Henson says his wrist did not feel good during or after the game as it felt weak and he still has trouble gripping the ball.<\/p>\n
Again, Creighton is a good team and should be proud of its season but it will be a shame if the Tar Heels’ road to the Final Four is shortened by an inferior team committing hard fouls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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