Top seed Virginia will be without key player. Cavaliers coach: ‘Next man up’

Perhaps the biggest story of the NCAA tournament’s first-round games in Charlotte is about a player who won’t play.

Virginia freshman forward De’Andre Hunter, ACC Sixth Man of the Year, was ruled out for the rest of the season earlier this week with a broken wrist. And Cavaliers coach Tony Bennett isn’t even sure when Hunter - who played in all three games during the Cavaliers’ ACC tournament championship run last week - was injured. But Bennett suspected it happened in the quarterfinals against Clemson.

“He had a sprained right wrist, but in the Clemson game, it was when he went to the basket and then ended up playing,” Bennett said. “He had X-rays and everything was looking good. It wasn’t until we got back that it was still bothering him and then he had an MRI, which was the definitive thing. A real slight, slight crack.”

Hunter averaged 9.2 points and 3.5 rebounds this season.

“I was really discouraged for De’Andre and for us,” Bennett said. “He had a heck of a year and I thought he really developed and helped us so much with his versatility, offensively and defensively. But you can’t control the timing. Those things happen. As the old saying goes, ‘Next man up.’ ”

Worth noting

▪ North Carolina coach Roy Williams is a big golf fan and that was apparent Thursday. As he prepared to make the opening remarks of his afternoon news conference, he glanced down at his phone:

“The opening statement would be to see that Tiger Woods just birdied a hole. He’s the sole leader now at 4-under par through 16 holes. That’s all I got.”

But before a reporter could get a first question in, Williams did have more play-by-play on Woods (he’s playing in the Arnold Palmer Classic at Bay Hill):

“He double-bogeyed a hole. He’s 4 under with a double bogey.”

▪ Providence’s Ed Cooley is the coach you might have seen last weekend whose pants ripped during the Big East championship game against Villanova. Cooley tucked a Gatorade towel into the back of pants to conceal the rip. He later changed into sweat pants.

▪ Lipscomb sophomore guard Michael Buckland and North Carolina senior guard Theo Pinson were high school teammates at High Point Wesleyan.

“In high school, (Buckland) was always that guy to look up to older guys,” Pinson said. “He really listened. He always tried to learn from us, even though he wasn’t as big of a player as all of us were. We were all highly ranked. He was always under the radar. But he always worked hard and wanted to get better.”

Buckland averages 7.3 points. He grew up a North Carolina fan and his sister Megan, now the women’s basketball coach at Presbyterian, is a former Tar Heel player.

Quoting

“Belmont, Vanderbilt, (Middle Tennessee) ... Tennessee State, they’re not in the tournament. All eyes in Nashville are on us.” -- Rob Marberry of Lipscomb (one of five Division I schools in and around Nashville, Tenn.).

“We love versatility.” - Providence coach Ed Cooley, on his players’ ability to play multiple positions.

“Yeah, two bad memories. Belmont and Wofford.” -- North Carolina coach Roy Williams, asked if Lipscomb reminds him of any teams the Tar Heels have played in the past (the Tar Heels lost to Belmont in 2013 and Wofford earlier this season.

By the numbers

1 Senior on Kansas State’s roster (guard Mason Schoen), one of six teams in tournament with one senior or fewer.

10 Games against ranked teams this season for Creighton, tied for fifth most in the country (UNC played 11).

49 NCAA tournament appearances by UNC, second all-time to Kentucky’s 57).

248 Free throws attempted this season by Lipscomb’s Garrison Matthews, sixth most in the country.

Today’s games

No. 10 Providence (21-13) vs. No. 7 Texas A&M (20-12), 12:15 p.m.: The Aggies’ most recent tournament experience was a Sweet 16 run in 2016. Center Tyler Davis (6-foot-10, 264 pounds) is a back-to-the-basket player who averages 14.5 points and 8.8 rebounds. ... Providence, which lost in the Big East tournament championship game, has a standout guard in Kyron Cartwright (Big East-leading 5.7 assists per game).

No. 15 Lipscomb (23-9) vs. No. 2 North Carolina (25-10), 2:45 p.m.: Lipscomb’s Bisons, the Atlantic Sun champions, like to run, averaging 82.6 points per game, which ranks 21st nationally. ...The Tar Heels, runners-up in the ACC tournament to Virginia, also like to run, and lead the nation in rebounding (42.5 per game).

No. 9 Kansas State (22-11) vs. No. 8 Creighton (21-11), 6:50 p.m.: Kansas State has a strong one-two scoring punch in forward Dean Wade (16.5) and guard Barry Brown (16.0). Bluejays guard Marcus Foster (20.3 points per game) is the nation’s active leader in career field goals made (782).

No. 16 Md.-Baltimore County (24-10) vs. No. 1 Virginia (31-2), 9:30 p.m.: A No. 16 seed has never beaten a No. 1 seed, and, no, this doesn’t seem like a game where that will change. The Retrievers have a dynamic guard in Jairus Lyles, whose 3-pointer at the buzzer gave UMBC 63-62 victory in the America East championship game. ...Virginia’s coping with the bad news that forward De’Andre Hunter is out for the season with a broken wrist. But the Cavs’ top-ranked defense will take them a long way, including against the Retrievers.

This story was originally published March 15, 2018 at 8:14 PM with the headline "Top seed Virginia will be without key player. Cavaliers coach: ‘Next man up’."