Jojo Doria

Greensboro, NC

North Carolina moved into the Sweet 16 Sunday with a win over Creighton but the Tar Heels may have lost an important piece.

Sophomore point guard Kendall Marshall broke a bone in his right wrist in the top-seeded Tar Heels 87-73 victory. The injury is to Marshall's non-shooting hand, which may allow him to play this week.

Marshall had 18 points and 11 assists against Creighton to help North Carolina earn its record 25th Sweet 16 appearance.

The injury came just as the Tar Heels got John Henson back after missing three games with a wrist injury of his own. Henson scored 13 points and added nine rebounds against the Blue Jays.

Henson played with his wrist wrapped and showed signs of soreness. Harrison Barnes scored 17 points and Reggie Bullock scored 13 and Tyler Zeller added 11 for the Tar Heels.

North Carolina next faces Ohio on Friday in St. Louis and Marshall's status for the game is unclear. He was hurt when he drove to the paint and was knocked down about midway through the second half.

Team spokesman Steve Kirschner said medical staff planned to put Marshall in a cast Sunday night and Dennis Marshall, Kendall's father, told CBS.com on Sunday night that his son would have surgery Monday morning to insert a screw in the injured wrist.

"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."

Missouri Valley Conference player of the year Doug McDermott scored 20 points and added nine rebounds in the loss for Creighton (29-6).

 

North Carolina Moves Into Sweet 16