Injuries hurt UNC in loss to Virginia. Here's the impact on the rest of the year

Monday night, the North Carolina men’s basketball team lost to Virginia, 69-61, in the Smith Center. With less than eight minutes to play, UNC held a lead as large as seven points. The Cavaliers finished the game on a 21-6 scoring streak, as UNC’s offense completely stalled.

In the loss and poor finish, injuries hurt North Carolina down the stretch. The status of these players will be key for North Carolina's hopes the rest of the season.

Let’s start with the big ones.

Cameron Johnson 

With 6:09 remaining in the second half, Virginia had tied the game at 55. In just under two minutes of game time, Virginia had whittled away North Carolina’s -point lead and tied things up. Needless to say, the next few minutes were an important stretch. Before Luke Maye turned the ball over and gave Virginia the possession that would tie things up, Johnson hit the floor. Johnson left the game at the next stoppage of play to deal with an injury, one that was later revealed to be a rolled ankle. 

Johnson missed a crucial four minutes of game time. He returned with 2:27 to play, but at that point Virginia had already wrested the lead from the Tar Heels. Johnson finished with 16 points, only one behind Coby White. Had he been in during those four minutes, who knows how the game would have changed.

Nassir Little

Then there was Little, who fell awkwardly on his ankle early in the first half. He left the game after only playing for two minutes, and didn’t return. Then of course there are still the absences of Sterling Manley and Leaky Black. Manley has been out since a Dec. 29 game against Davidson and Black has missed four straight games.

Impact

The loss of those three players hurt North Carolina’s rotation against Virginia. After going on a run to take a seven-point second-half lead, North Carolina ran out of gas. On a night with these injuries, plus a poor showing from Maye (he finished with four points), UNC needed all of the offense it could get. Yet when the game was on the line, it was forced to rely primarily on White to generate offense. With a limited rotation, North Carolina relied heavily on Brandon Robinson in the second half, and even Andrew Platek saw minutes. 

Though a lack of depth sunk the team in the second half against Virginia, the good news for the Tar Heels is that Johnson returned to the court, and Little’s injury does not appear to be too serious. It was confirmed after the game that the injury was just an ankle sprain, and Little was seen walking around without crutches or a boot. 

There is still no timeline for Black or Manley’s return. Manley has been warming up and dressing out for games, but still has not gone through a full practice.

Though a completely healthy roster would not have guaranteed a North Carolina win against Virginia, having more quality depth would certainly have helped the Tar Heels down the stretch. If Little, Black and Manley are all out in the upcoming matchup with Duke, UNC might be in trouble. But when the Tar Heels get all of their players back healthy, they should be fine.

@holtmckeithan 

@DTHSports | sports@dailytarheel.com