A record set by Georgia Tech’s Craig Neal almost a quarter-century ago was broken Friday.
North Carolina sophomore point guard Kendall Marshall had 12 assists in the Tar Heels’ victory over Maryland, giving him 311 assists this season to break the ACC’s previous single-season record of 303 set by Neal in 1987-88.
“We’ve been playing basketball a long time, with a lot of great point guards, and Kendall Marshall has more assists in a season than anybody else has,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. “Fantastic.”
Marshall confessed that he didn’t know much about his record-holding predecessor, Neal.
Friday’s performance in the ACC tournament quarterfinals marked the 14th time this season that Marshall accumulated 10 or more assists in a game. Former N.C. State star Chris Corchiani holds, at least for the moment, the ACC single-season record of 15 games with double-digit assists, set in 1990-91.
Zeller honored
For the second year in a row, North Carolina forward Tyler Zeller was named Friday as the winner of the Skip Prosser Award, which goes to the top scholar-athlete in ACC men’s basketball.
Zeller, a business major with a 3.62 GPA, is a four-time member of the All-ACC academic team and a two-time academic All-American.
A senior forward, Zeller previously was named the ACC’s 2012 player of the year. He has averaged 16.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game this season. He had 14 points and seven rebounds against Maryland on Friday.
Prosser, a former Wake Forest coach, died in 2007.
Etc.
Friday’s announced attendance at Philips Arena was a capacity-plus 19,520. Some tickets again went unused, particularly in the upper level, but considerably fewer than Thursday. ... After Friday’s loss to N.C. State, Virginia has lost 18 of its past 22 ACC tournament games. ... Virginia forward Mike Scott on his team’s NCAA tournament prospects: “I’ve never been to the tournament, so I am hoping they will put us in there.”
About the Author
