Kendall Marshall undergoes surgery

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North Carolina point guard Kendall Marshall had surgery Monday morning, a day after breaking his right wrist in an NCAA round of 32 victory.

The school released a statement confirming the procedure, saying a screw was inserted into his fractured scaphoid bone but that it wasn't known whether the sophomore would be available to play Friday in the NCAA regional semifinals against the No. 13 seed Ohio Bobcats.

"Successful morning," a post on Marshall's Twitter account said. "I'm screwed."

The No. 1-seeded Tar Heels beat Creighton 87-73 on Sunday night as Marshall had 18 points with 11 assists.

Marshall's father wrote Monday afternoon on Twitter that his son was coming off anesthesia, and "all Kendall keeps asking for is his teammates."

Dennis Marshall later told The Associated Press the procedure done in Chapel Hill, N.C., lasted about 35 minutes.

He said when Kendall plays again would be based on "what would be best for Kendall in the long term."

"I don't know because Kendall's just coming out of his anesthesia, we haven't talked and I don't know how he'll feel four days from now," Dennis Marshall said. "We just don't know.

"Is it impossible he plays this weekend? No, it's not. Is it likely he plays next weekend? It definitely is. It's something we just don't know."

Tar Heels coach Roy Williams echoed that uncertain sentiment Monday night on his radio show.

"We can talk all we want to, 'if this' and 'if that' ... and that's just a bunch of damn waste of time. There's nothing else to talk about until we find out what the [expletive] is going on, and then we'll talk about it."

Williams did however venture a somewhat pessimistic forecast in regards to Friday's game saying, "My guess is -- purely a guess -- that he will not play. But as I said, we're uncertain."

The injury occurred with 10:56 left at Greensboro Coliseum when Marshall -- who naturally shoots left-handed -- was driving the lane for a right-handed layup. He was fouled hard by Creighton's Ethan Wragge and crashed to the floor.

"I kind of got pushed to the ground,'' Marshall said after the game. "And I guess when I fell, I hurt my funny bone first, and that's what I was most worried about. That's fine. My wrist just got the worst of it."

Asked if he thought it was a clean play, Marshall replied: "It was hard for me to tell. I was focused on making the basket. I watched the replay from one angle, and it was still hard to tell. Hopefully, he had his best intentions in mind of making a team play."

Marshall didn't know how bad the injury was at the time though, making one of two free throws after a media timeout, leaving the game, and then eventually playing another seven-plus minutes.

"I felt the pain, but I didn't want to make a big deal of it,'' he said. "I just wanted us to get the win."

Marshall's 3.48 assist-to-turnover ratio this season is the second-best in a single season in ACC history, behind only Ty Lawson's 3.49 in the 2008-09 season. Marshall's career 3.01 assist-to-turnover ratio is the best in ACC history.

Dennis Marshall said he and his wife planned to stay in a hotel to take care of Kendall -- who is wearing a splint -- on Monday night. He said the family and Williams would likely wait a couple of days before talking about the point guard's status for the regionals.

The Tar Heels will play Ohio in St. Louis on Friday.

If Marshall can't play or is limited, UNC will have to look to freshman Stilman White, who has averaged only 4.2 minutes per game, and senior Justin Watts, a wing who has played two stints at point guard this season.

"I would just tell everybody not to get their hopes up and just pray and hope for the best," Dennis Marshall said. "That's about all we can do at this point."

Robbi Pickeral covers North Carolina Tar Heels basketball for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press and ESPN's Stats & Information group was used in this report.

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Robbi Pickeral | email

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• ESPN.com UNC basketball blogger
• Joined ESPN.com in 2011
• Wrote for Raleigh News & Observer