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Off the cuff: Kendall Marshall said he threw up at halftime. If his first game without Larry Drew II sharing time is any indication, he's going to be making a lot of opponents and their fans throw up.

Marshall dished out 16 assists, two shy of the all-time Carolina record held by Raymond Felton and breaking the record for a game against an ACC opponent.

He made some spectacular passes including a nifty driving underhand job to Tyler Zeller who dunked it and a long upcourt fastbreak assist to John Henson who dunked it.

Carolina might want to get a bodyguard for Marshall, who saw his minutes go from about 20 a game to 36 against Florida State. Without Drew, he'll have to stay healthy for the Heels to have a chance at an ACC title and a long run in the NCAA tournament.

UNC coach Roy Williams said he'd like to get Marshall's minutes down a bit but backup Dexter Strickland, a shooting guard, hasn't had time to get up to speed at the point.

Williams said Marshall not only is smart but he has a good feel for the game and has good court vision. He can also score when he needs to. He drained a pair of threes against the Seminoles.

The team's shooting percentage should improve as Marshall gets the ball inside for dunks. Carolina will miss Drew's defense but there may be better chemistry now with Marshall playing more minutes.

Maybe the amount of playing time as much as his nerves led to Marshall throwing up. But it was Florida State that felt sick after this game.

Tar Heels 89, Florida State 69
Marshall takes over Tar Heel team

This is Kendall Marshall's team now. He may be a freshman but after Larry Drew II's departure this week, Marshall took over with a 16-assist performance in North Carolina's impressive 89-69 home victory over Florida State. (2/6)

Drew abruptly left the Tar Heels Friday, four games after losing his starting point guard position to Marshall. Now we know how Carolina responds to it - as long as the Marshall is in town.

"He stepped up," UNC coach Roy Williams said of Marshall. "It's a been a little of a difficult time the last 48 hours." He added that it was good to go ahead and play a game and get that all behind them.

Marshall set a record for most assists in a game against an ACC opponent with 16, more than Florida State had as a team. But he also scored nine points, stole the ball three times and turned the ball over only three times. He started the game with a three-pointer and got loose for a driving snowbird late in the first half to give the Heels their biggest lead of the half at 38-27. But it was nifty passes that wowed the crowd.

Most of the spectacular assists came in the second half. During an 11-2 run early in the second half that got the lead to 57-41, Marshall lobbed an alley oop to John Henson, found Henson inside for an old-fashioned three-point play and slipped one to Tyler Zeller for two more.

After Florida State made a run to get the deficit down to seven, Marshall whipped in a three at the end of the shot clock to put the Heels up 60-50 midway through the second half and it never got closer. The lead got as high as 22 late in the game.

The Tar Heels shot 57 percent and had four players in double figures, led by Harrison Barnes' 17 points. Zeller and Henson each had 16 points and Dexter Strickland, who will be the backup point guard now, scored 15 points, had four assists and a steal.

Chris Singleton led the Seminoles with 15 points. The Tar Heels, now 17-5 and 7-1 in the ACC, play at Duke Wednesday night.

Boxscore

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