UNC Basketball: Leaky Black suffers right knee injury

Leaky Black suffered a right knee injury in the UNC basketball program’s victory over NC State. How severe is the senior forward’s injury?

The UNC basketball program faced a scary moment on Saturday afternoon, as senior Leaky Black suffered an injury in the team’s victory over NC State.

With 4:31 left to play in the first half, Black was contesting a shot from NC State’s Jericole Hellems when he went down to the ground in noticeable pain. It was unclear whether Black and Hellems collided knees, but the angles showed on ESPN made it appear as if it was a non-contact injury.

The Concord, North Carolina native was helped to the locker room and underwent testing on what was determined to be a right knee injury. Based on the look of the injury, plus the fact that Black did not return to the bench for the remainder of the half, the early worry was that the injury was of serious nature.

However, the Tar Heels got some good news, as it was determined that there was no severe damage to Black’s need. He was diagnosed with a hyperextended knee and rejoined the team for warmups prior to the start of the second half.

Black, who had a brace on when he returned to the court, took part in warmups but did not start the second half. A few minutes in, it was announced via social media that the senior would not return to the game.

Here’s what Davis had to say when asked about Black’s injury during his postgame conference:

"“Leaky hyperextended his knee. The great thing about it is that it’s nothing serious and that there’s no structural damage. He (Leaky) felt like he could come out in the second half and play, and I wanted to see him warm up. He said that he felt good, but that he didn’t feel 100% comfortable cutting and making moves, so we rested him in the second half of the game.”"

Davis went on to say that Black told him that he was good to get back in the game, but the Tar Heels head coach noted how he was more worried about his health, even though his injury was ruled to be not serious.

Fortunately, Black’s injury turned out to be minor, and the situation allowed the Tar Heels to rest him for the remainder of the game. With a big lead at their disposal, Davis split Black’s minutes between Donovan “Puff” Johnson and Dontrez Styles, who ended up doing a nice job filling in for Black.

Regardless of the score, it was the right decision to not insert Black back into the game. The Tar Heels can’t afford to lose Black, as he’s a very important piece to their overall success, and putting him back into a game that was mostly out of reach wouldn’t have been a logical move.

With another game on Monday night, the Tar Heels don’t have much rest time before they take the floor once again. Hopefully Black is ready to take the floor for what is his ‘Senior Night,’ as the UNC basketball program looks to win its final home game of the 2021-2022 season.

Continue to follow the Keeping It Heel team for all the latest injury updates regarding Leaky Black and for news about the UNC basketball program.