Kendall Marshall fractures wrist during UNC’s win over Creighton

Kendall Marshall broke a bone in his right wrist during the University of North Carolina’s victory over Creighton in the NCAA basketball tournament on Sunday, leaving the status of the Tar Heels’ star point guard up in the air for Friday’s Sweet 16 game against Ohio.

“All we know right now is it’s a fracture,” Marshall said. “Luckily, it’s my right hand. If it was my left hand, then we’d probably have some problems. But we’ll take it day by day and figure it out.”

The injury occurred when Marshall was knocked to the floor by Ethan Wragge with 10:56 remaining in the game. Marshall hit one of his two free throws, then left the game briefly but played about seven more minutes before exiting for good with 1:54 left in what ended as an 87-73 blowout victory for the top-seeded Tar Heels.

Marshall finished with 18 points to notch double figures for the sixth straight game. He also had 11 assists after already setting the ACC’s single-season assist record last weekend.

Team spokesman Steve Kirschner said Marshall would be put in a cast Sunday night for his comfort. Marshall’s father, Dennis, told CBS.com that his son would have a screw surgically inserted in the injured wrist Monday morning.

Marshall’s wrist injury comes just when the Tar Heels got another key player, forward John Henson, back from a wrist injury of his own. In his first game back after missing the previous three with a sprained left wrist, Henson had 13 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in 28 minutes.

Still, Marshall’s injury could leave the Tar Heels extremely short-handed at point guard, a position at which they already lost No. 2 ball-handler Dexter Strickland to a season-ending knee injury in January. Freshman Stilman White is the team’s only other true point guard, with versatile senior Justin Watts another likely fill-in at the point if Marshall is sidelined.

“It’s part of the game of basketball, and Kendall’s an intricate part of the team, to say the least,” Henson said. “And I know it’s going to hurt a little bit, but we don’t know what his status is, so we’re just going to keep praying for him and hoping for the best.”

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Kendall Marshall fractures wrist during UNC’s win over Creighton