North Carolina forward John Henson, who suffered a sprained left wrist in UNC’s ACC Tournament quarterfinal victory over Maryland, will be a game-time decision for Saturday’s semifinal game.
"They don’t think it’s a break with John,’’ UNC coach Roy Williams said. "It’s just he had trouble catching and gripping the basketball. It’s his left wrist; that’s the one he uses. That’s his dominant hand, even though he is right-handed."
Henson, the ACC’s defensive player of the year, was fouled hard by Maryland’s Ashton Pankey on a drive to the basket in the first half. He came up flexing his hand and was taken to the locker room.
Henson returned to the floor later with his left wrist heavily taped. It was quickly apparent that the injury was still bothering him however, and he was taken out of the game for good less than a minute later.
X-rays taken during halftime were negative.
"I was worried, but I was a little happier after the X-rays came back and said they said it wasn’t broken,’’ said Henson, who entered the game averaging 14.2 points, plus a league-leading 10.3 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game.
North Carolina will face either NC State or Virginia in the semifinals on Saturday.
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