ESPN Men's Basketball

ATLANTA -- On Friday, the talk concerning North Carolina point guard Kendall Marshall was all about his ability to pass the ball. On Saturday, it was all about his clutch, calm demeanor, as he sank a bank shot in the final seconds to give UNC the 69-67 win over NC State.

The win moves UNC into Sunday's ACC championship game.

UNC struggled for most of the day to stop NC State in the paint without John Henson, who was out with a sprained left wrist. The Heels moved to a zone defense midway through the second half, which helped contain NC State's offense, especially inside.

NC State eventually adjusted to UNC's zone, but lost top post presence C.J. Leslie with eight minutes remaining after he fouled out. That allowed UNC to work the paint more and helped the Tar Heels execute their zone more efficiently.

Before fouling out, UNC forward Tyler Zeller scored a game-high 23 points.

NC State never backed down and had chances to reclaim the lead with under a minute left, but turned the ball over twice before Marshall's game-winning jumper.

Turning point: UNC rarely plays zone, but the Tar Heels moved to it with a little more than 13 minutes remaining in Saturday's semifinal. It helped UNC slow down NC State's offense without Henson down low. It also helped that Leslie fouled out with 8:03 left after collecting three fouls in the span of a minute and a half.

Key player: UNC guard Reggie Bullock only scored five points, but he was all over the court. He grabbed seven rebounds and dished six assists, but really helped the Tar Heels on defense. He shut down NC State sharpshooter Scott Wood, who was held to two points on 1-of-6 shooting, and smothered him on a potential game-winning 3-point shot that Wood failed to even take. He also kept things under control for UNC late in the first half when he hit two straight buckets and grabbed a couple of rebounds.

Key stat: Neither team could get much going at all from the outside as they combined to shoot 8-of-31 from beyond the 3-point line. UNC hit five 3-pointers, while NC State hit just three.

Miscellaneous: UNC has now won 13 straight over the Wolfpack. ... The loss dropped NC State to 5-6 in the ACC tournament as the No. 5 seed. ... Despite fouling out, Leslie continued his tournament tear with 22 points, seven rebounds and two steals. ... With James Michael McAdoo dealing with foul trouble, UNC's Justin Watts played both point guard and power forward.

What’s next: The Tar Heels await the winner of the Duke-Florida State game. A win over Duke would lock up a No. 1 seed for UNC in the NCAA tournament. If the Blue Devils don't make it, the Heels will likely clinch a top seed before the day is over. As for the Wolfpack, Friday's win over Virginia was huge as far as the NCAA tournament is concerned. While NC State is probably still on the bubble, its ACC tournament showing has it in much better shape than a couple of days ago.

ATLANTA – North Carolina and Duke are still vying for a top seed in the NCAA tournament.

NC State is trying to solidify a spot in the field of 68.

And Florida State – which has already secured a spot in the NCAAs – would like to become only the second team not named “UNC” or “Duke” to win the ACC tournament in 16 years.

A quick preview of today’s NCAA semifinals at Philips Arena:

No. 1 seed North Carolina vs. No. 5 seed N.C. State, 1 p.m. EST

Will he play or won’t he play? The status of UNC forward John Henson’s left wrist – which he sprained in the first half of his team’s quarterfinal win over Maryland on Friday – hasn’t reached the scrutiny level of “Ty Lawson Toe-Gate”, circa 2009 (when the starting point guard sat out the entire ACC tournament, and part of the NCAAs, en route to a national title).

But give it time.

Official word Friday was that the 6-foot-11 junior would test his pain threshold Saturday morning to see if he would be able to play against the Wolfpack. But frankly, it would make sense to be cautious with the ACC’s leading rebounder, blocker and defender. UNC, after all, has wrapped up an NCAA tournament berth, and it’s just a matter of whether it ends up with a No. 1 or No. 2 seed.

If Henson doesn’t play, it opens up more room the lane for NC State forward C.J. Leslie, who has come on particularly strong of late. He’s averaging 18.9 points and 11 rebounds over his past seven games – including 19 points and 14 rebounds in Friday’s quarterfinal victory over Virginia.

“He [Henson] is a great player – first-team All-ACC, Defensive Player of the Year; we want him to play,’’ Wolfpack guard C.J. Williams said. “We don’t want to give a team an excuse, ‘Oh, we didn’t have one of our best players.’ He’s definitely a matchup problem for us, with his length and his size … but we want him to play.”

The Tar Heels beat their in-state rival in both match-ups this season.

No. 2 seed Duke vs. No. 3 seed Florida State, approximately 3:30 p.m. EST

Duke, which lost to Florida State on its home court in January, offered up a little bit of payback last month, when it beat the Seminoles in Tallahassee, Fla.

Guard Andre Dawkins was 6-for-12 for 22 points that game, with all six of those made shots being 3-pointers.

But since then, however, he’s made only 1 of his 12 shot attempts over his past four games. Not a good stat for the Blue Devils, especially since they are also missing forward Ryan Kelly for the ACC tournament because of a foot injury.

The key for FSU will be to limit Duke’s outside scoring while taking advantage of the Devils’ thin depth inside.

And if it’s close at the end, they have a couple of clutch options in Michael Snaer and Ian Miller, who have both buried game-winners this season.

“We know we have a tremendous opportunity to do something great,’’ Snaer said. “My team is really confident in our abilities, and we’re playing like it. We’re playing together. … We know how important this game is to us, and to our program and to the history of our program. And I can’t wait for it to get started.”

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A quick look at North Carolina’s 86-74 win at NC State.

Why it happened: NC State plays in spurts, but it didn’t play in enough of them against a hot-shooting Tar Heels team. North Carolina scorched the Wolfpack from beyond the arc, connecting on 10-of-19 3-pointers. UNC shot 53 percent from 3 and 51 percent overall.

What it means: NC State’s uncomfortable bubble seat just got a little more uncomfortable. The Wolfpack had three chances (at Duke, vs. FSU, vs. UNC) to make their case and failed in all three. Now NCSU has to win out against Clemson, Miami and Virginia Tech and hope for a little help from other bubble dwellers. North Carolina, meantime, is trying to build a case for a No. 1 seed, an argument that got a little stronger with Missouri’s loss to Kansas State. A lot still has to happen for the Heels to secure a top spot, but winning out will make it an interesting debate for the Selection Committee.

Star of the game: Kendall Marshall isn’t known for being a scorer. That doesn’t mean he can’t score. The North Carolina point guard had a career-high 22 points, 13 assists and most impressive, no turnovers. He was 4-of-5 from long range. Not much more you can ask a point guard to do.

For starters: North Carolina rode hot shooting from the 3-point line to stake a 46-41 lead at the half. The Tar Heels hit 7 of 14 from the behind the arc. But credit to the Wolfpack, which rallied from an early 10-2 hole to make this a game. C.J. Leslie, who needed to be big against UNC’s bigs, was in fact that. He had 14 and 7 in the first 20 minutes, helping the Pack stay tight with the Heels on the boards, 22-21.

Simply not good enough: NC State turned it over just four times, but was 3-of-13 (23 percent) from long range and just 13-of-23 (57 percent) from the free throw line. That's simply not going to get it done against a team as talented as the Heels.

What’s next: NC State’s NCAA tournament hopes are dangling by a thread, especially since some of its fellow bubble brethren (Seton Hall, Kansas State, etc.) took care of business on Tuesday night. That means every game is huge and the next one is awfully dangerous. Clemson has won three of its past four. The Tar Heels, trying to win the league crown, travel to Virginia, host Maryland and then finish the season off with the remach against Duke.

A few quick thoughts as No. 8 North Carolina leads N.C. State 37-23 at halftime at the Smith Center:

• It would have been hard enough for the Wolfpack to handle UNC 7-footer Tyler Zeller -- and on top of that, the senior showed up to play. He has a double-double (13 points, 12 rebounds) already, has made 6 of his 7 shots, and helped push State big man Richard Howell into picking up three fouls early.
• With first-time UNC starter Reggie Bullock guarding him, Wolfpack leading scorer Scott Wood is 0-for-3. State has made only 25 percent of its tries for the game, and its best shot may have been the 70-footer that guard Lorenzo Brown lucked in at the halftime buzzer.
• A few other numbers: UNC is outrebounding State 29-15 … The Tar Heels have an uncharacteristic assist-to-turnover ratio so far (9-to-10) … C.J. Leslie leads State with seven points. … UNC freshman point guard Stilman White, UNC’s new back-up ballhandler after Dexter Strickland’s knee injury, has picked up an assist and a foul in one minute of play.