Zeller, Marshall Thursday Q and As

GREENSBORO--- UNC starters Kendall Marshall and Tyler Zeller spoke to reporters in the Greensboro Coliseum Thursday afternoon, the day before the top-seeded Tar Heels take on Vermont in the second round of the NCAA Midwest Regional.

Read our Q and A with Marshall and Zeller below:

What have you guys worked on in practice in regards to Henson's availability?  Have you prepared as if he's not going to play?  How does that work, the interior game?

TYLER ZELLER:  We prepare both ways, prepared for him to play as well as not play.  So we don't know yet what's going to happen with him, so we have had him in for some plays.  We have also had James Michael in with the first team playing a lot also.  So just trying to prepare for whatever we have to be able to play with and make the best of it.

You said for whatever day it was, Tuesday, maybe, that you were going to watch the Vermont‑Lamar game.  Did you watch it?  And if you did, what did you think of Vermont?

KENDALL MARSHALL:  I did watch it and Vermont is a very good team.  They're here for a reason.  Obviously, this is a big time tournament.  And they do a very good job of playing as a team.  One thing that we have to do is not get frustrated.  They do a great job of running their offense and really looking for the best shot available.  They have no selfish players on their team, so those are the main things I got out of the game.

What did you guys take from the loss to Florida State?  Everybody seems to learn from a loss like that and that was two games that you lost to them this year to help you heading into the tournament.

KENDALL MARSHALL:  First off, I think that you can learn from a win as well as a loss, but we did take another look at Florida State.  First of all, you have to give them credit for the things that they did.  But I felt like we could have helped our cause by maybe springing back on defense better and picking up our man, as well as not giving up big leads to good teams.  You're not always going to be able to come back.  It was a learning experience, and I think it's going to help us going into the tournament.

Did you watch the game last night?  And if you did, your observations?

TYLER ZELLER:  Very similar to what he said.  I watched the first half and then some of the second half, but they did a fantastic job of playing as a team, making sure they ran their offense.  And they didn't have a turnover until it was like 12 or 10 minutes left in the first half.  That's very impressive.  Usually teams have two or three turnovers by then.  We can't get frustrated, just got to make sure that you play your game.

Did you guys practice this morning?

TYLER ZELLER:  Did we practice this morning?  Yeah, we practiced this morning, just a typical day before a game.

What was John able to do this morning?

TYLER ZELLER:  He tried to do a little bit of everything.  We obviously didn't want him to do everything, just because we don't want him to make his wrist any worse.  So we had him in on some plays and just saw what he was capable of and what he could do.

Again, is that sort of uncertainty surrounding John, is that affecting the team at all or how is it affecting the team, if it is?

TYLER ZELLER:  I don't think it's affecting us.  I think it's something that we would love to have John play.  He's a fantastic player, a great rebounder, shot blocker; he can score.  So all around he's a fantastic player, but we also have confidence in our substitutes.  And James Michael especially, I think we have a lot of confidence in him to be able to step up and be able to fit in that role.