Tar Heels down Tennessee State 102-69

Selfishness is not a problem that the No. 1 North Carolina men’s basketball team has had to deal with this year.

It’s also not one that the Tar Heels are ever likely to face with Kendall Marshall at the point.

In four games this year, the Tar Heels have assisted 89 of 137 made baskets, and nearly half of those assists came from the hands of Marshall.

“We’re not a selfish team at all,” Marshall said. “We actually have to get on some players about being too unselfish.”

Marshall had 15 assists in the 102-69 win against Tennessee State, marking the third time in his 24 career starts that he’s had at least 15 dimes. No other Tar Heel has done it more than once.

Tuesday night, his role as facilitator was made a lot simpler by the way North Carolina shot the ball. For the game the Tar Heels shot a season-high 62 percent from the field and 61 percent from behind the 3-point line. Harrison Barnes and Tyler Zeller both had 16 points, but sophomore Reggie Bullock stole the show.

Bullock, who led all scorers with a career-high 23, was 6-for-7 from deep.

“I just had to come out and play my game,” Bullock said. “I’m a shooter, so I know I just catch and shoot and not think about it. First couple of games I was thinking about my shot too much and I know coming off the bench I just got to bring something to add to this team.”

Marshall said Bullock was one of the players who was especially unselfish last season, and at times the team had to ask him to shoot. That certainly wasn’t the case Tuesday night as Bullock looked very comfortable firing away from behind the line.

Both of Marshall’s final two assists came on Bullock 3-pointers, which sandwiched a dunk from Barnes, in a span of just less than a minute and a half late in the second half. That spurt gave UNC the largest lead of the game at 36 points.

Coach Roy Williams has seen breakouts like this from Bullock before, but he was disappointed that Bullock didn’t follow those up with more consistent play.

This time, Williams said he is going to stay on top of him.

“I’m going to challenge him now,” Williams said. “He had four threes against Boston College last year, and then the next game he wasn’t as good. You can’t be up and down. You have to be consistent with it and that’s what I’m going to challenge him with.”

Though Tuesday was Bullock’s night, Williams believes that his team has the ability to share some of that 3-point action as well. Barnes and Marshall both made one 3-pointer, and freshman P.J. Hairston knocked down two behind the arc.

“Everything looks better when the ball goes in the basket,” Williams said. “I really believe we have good shooting from the 3-point line with Harrison, Reggie, P.J., and I really think it’s important for us to have that as a part of our game.”