CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Harrison Barnes is a projected top-five NBA draft selection, and Clemson coach Brad Brownell would be happy to see North Carolina's sophomore guard fulfill his potential.

Fill out his NBA paperwork. Suggest an agent, perhaps. Anything to get him away from the ACC.

Barnes burned the Tigers again here Saturday, scoring 24 points on nine-of-18 shooting in the No. 8 Tar Heels' 74-52 win over Clemson.

In four games over two years, Barnes is averaging 24.3 points per game against the Tigers — including 84 points over his last 92 minutes of game action.

"He's a great player," Brownell said. "We don't have a guy his size that matches up that well. You have so many guys you're trying to stop, it's hard to do a good job on him. Certainly, he rose to the occasion last year in the ACC Tournament (scoring 40 points in UNC's 92-87 overtime win), and he made plays today. You can't just got into a game trying to stop Harrison Barnes, because their guys will beat you."

Barnes canned a trio of 3-pointers for the third consecutive game.

"The shots were just falling," he said. "My teammates did a great job finding me. Kendall (Marshall) with the shot-clock winding down, was able to find me and I was able to capitalize."

Marshall plan: Marshall had four points and 13 assists, the 11th time this season he has handed out double-figure assists, and seventh time he has had at least 13. UNC is 21-0 when he records at least nine assists.

"He's so unique," Brownell said. "You don't see many guys like him. His ability to pass, unselfishness, IQ for the game, it's tremendous. Who wouldn't want to play with that guy, who wouldn't want to coach him?

"He takes so much pressure off you as a head coach, makes so many decisions, you don't need to tell him a whole lot. When he drove the baseline and saw Barnes backwards at the top of the key (and threw it to him) — you don't coach that. That's a guy that's got gifts."

Theft twins: When senior forward Tanner Smith made four steals against Virginia, he joined fellow senior guard and roommate Andre Young in an exclusive club. Like Young, Smith now has 150 career steals. He and Young (who had 178 steals entering Saturday) are the first Clemson teammates to pile up at least 150 steals apiece since Cliff Hammonds and James Mays turned the trick in 2007-08.

Young is one of the ACC's best ballhandlers. He began Saturday second in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio, with 2.96 assists for every turnover. No. 1? Marshall, who boasted a 3.41-to-1 ratio.

Smith is also in the top-5 in assist-to-turnover ratio; together, they have a 2.27-to-1 ratio; they're 2.1-to-1 in road games. They combined for five assists and four turnovers Saturday.

Consistent lineup: Clemson started Young and Smith with forwards Bryan Narcisse, Devin Booker and Milton Jennings for the third consecutive game Saturday. The Tigers have used 10 different lineups this season; no lineup has started for more than five consecutive games — Smith, Booker, Jennings, Young and T.J. Sapp started from a Jan. 1 win over East Tennessee State through a Jan. 18 loss to Miami.