Kendall Marshall Sets Career High as North Carolina Survives Maryland

It looked like an upset at first.

Maryland was firing on all cylinders, ACC leading scorer Terrell Stoglin was penetrating the lane and the Tar Heels' big men seemed to be in a different world out there.

But once the second half came around, that all changed.

Kendall Marshall dished out a career-high 16 assists alongside nine points, two steals and an unusually high six turnovers, and North Carolina made a second-half comeback, taking down Maryland 83-74.

Tyler Zeller led all scorers with 22 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, and Harrison Barnes added in another 18, leading the Tar Heels to their 20th win of the season in front of a hostile Maryland crowd.

Stoglin, as usual, was brilliant for Maryland, dropping 20 points (8-21 FG, 1-8 3PT), but the Tar Heels' well-rounded attack was enough to overwhelm the Terrapins late in the second half.

Maryland enjoyed a single-digit lead for much of the game, suppressing the North Carolina offense by keeping them out of the paint. But as Stoglin and Sean Mosley grew fatigued, the Tar Heels began knocking down shots.

John Henson, the seventh-leading shot blocker in the NCAA, only recorded one block but put up a double double with 17 points and 12 rebounds, including a monster stuff over Maryland's Alex Len with 1.4 seconds remaining in the game.

Len had arguably his best game of the season, scoring 12 points and grabbing nine rebounds, but his effort on the defensive end with four blocks and many more shots altered kept the Tar Heels dormant for much of the evening.

Though it didn't look like it at first, North Carolina won the rebound margin 44-37, especially down the stretch where Henson and Barnes (8 REB) crashed the boards.

The Tar Heels (20-3, 7-1 ACC) are now tied with Florida State for first place in the ACC. 

Unranked Maryland at 13-9 has a young, talented roster that will surely make noise in years to come.