The top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels have had little to concern themselves with so far this college basketball season.
After beating Rutgers 93-71 on Sunday night, the Heels (9-0) are off to their best start since 1997-98, when they won their first 17 games on the way to the Final Four. They are also WagerWeb.com odds-on favorite to win the national title.
However, UNC’s best player, All-American junior power forward Tyler Hansbrough, left New Jersey with a scary concussion.
Hansbrough, the preseason national player of the year, tried to take a charge from Earl Pettis with 5:47 to play and the Tar Heels leading by 23 points. The UNC star was backpedaling when the two collided, and Hansbrough was sent flying backwards. He landed hard on his backside, and slammed his head into the knee of a cameraman, and then into the base of the basket.
He stayed down on the floor for a couple of minutes before being helped up by Coach Roy Williams and the trainer and being taken to the locker room. Hansbrough didn’t return and finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
”A little dizzy,” Hansbrough said when asked how he felt. “I took a pretty good blow when I fell but I’m feeling better. The cameraman was sitting close to the floor and I fell back into him.”
He said he doesn't know if he had blacked out. But after he was taken to the locker room and evaluated, it was determined his concussion was mild enough that he was able to talk to the media and travel home with the team.
”First time in the history of college basketball a guy got a concussion with no foul called and that better be all I say,” Williams said after the game.
”My eyes kind of hurt -- I'm just ready to lay down and rest,' said Hansbrough after the game.
He also said he didn't plan on missing any games. UNC next plays Wednesday against Nicholls State, which should be an easy victory with or without Hansbrough.
SYRACUSE: Junior guard Eric Devendorf, the second-leading scorer for the Orange, will miss the rest of the season after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.An MRI Sunday revealed the injury, according to Pete Moore, Syracuse director of athletic communications.
Devendorf was hurt the first minute of the second half of Syracuse's 125-75 victory Saturday night over ETSU.
He had just led a fast break when he fell awkwardly near the Syracuse bench.
Devendorf winced in pain and was in tears as he was carried to the locker room. He never returned.
Syracuse is investigating a medical redshirt for Devendorf, who was averaging 17 points a game and has already surpassed 1,000 points in his career Before he was hurt, Devendorf had scored 19 points and equaled his career high with five 3-pointers. He was averaging 17 points a game.
"We can't afford to lose a guy like Eric," Coach Jim Boeheim said. “He's a tremendous player. There's nothing you can do. You just make up for it the best you can. We'll play the other guys that are healthy.
"It's a great opportunity for our young guys," said Boeheim, who has five freshmen on his roster. "They're going to have to step up."
Meanwhile, Syracuse guard Josh Wright, the lone senior on the team, might be staring at the end of his Syracuse career. Wright has only logged 19 total minutes in the four games he has played in and did not show for six other games, including Saturday night.
"Josh Wright did not come to practice this week, so I assume he's not going to play basketball any more this year," Boeheim said.
TENNESSEE: Sophomore forward Duke Crews will be sidelined indefinitely with an unspecified heart condition.
Crews will have more tests until doctors determine he's healthy enough to practice and play. A Friday echocardiogram showed that Crews has a heart condition. As a precaution, team doctors have ordered treatment, monitoring and further testing, along with no participation in basketball practices or games at the present time.
Chris Klenck, UT's team physician, said the 6-7, 230-pounder “will return to competition as soon as his condition allows.”
Crews will visit heart specialists in Atlanta for further testing and analysis as Tennessee seeks to ensure the best course of action.
Coach Bruce Pearl said: “We're hopeful that through medication, through treatment, through some more testing ... we can strengthen the heart muscle so that "first of all" Duke can have a healthier heart so that he's going to be able to live a normal life AND have a healthier heart so that he's going to be able to come back and play basketball.”
The forward, averaging 6.5 points and 4.6 rebounds, was hampered by an ankle injury earlier this season.
As a freshman, Crews led the Volunteers in blocked shots (32) and field goal percentage (.518).
Tennessee is next in action Wednesday against UNC-Asheville.
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