By R.L. Bynum
Caleb Wilson has a fracture in his left hand, an injury that he suffered in the first half of Tuesday’s loss at Miami, the school announced Thursday.
Initial X‑rays taken during the game were negative, allowing Wilson to return to the game after missing 6½ minutes of the second half. However, follow‑up imaging conducted after the team’s return to Chapel Hill confirmed the fracture. The medical staff is continuing to evaluate the injury to determine his recovery timeline.
No. 11 UNC (19–5, 7–4 ACC) returns to action at 2 p.m. Saturday at home (ESPN) against Pittsburgh (9–16, 2–10), then plays at N.C. State (18–7, 9–3) at 7 p.m. Tuesday (ESPN). He will likely miss both games and others beyond that.
Wilson was injured trying to defend a 3-point attempt by Miami’s Noam Dovrat with 5:34 left in the first half, with both players falling to the court and Wilson being whistled for a foul. (Watch it at about 6:08 of the video below.) Wilson missed a 3-point attempt with 5:18 left and came out of the game with 5:06 remaining in the first half.
Wilson returned to the game with 1:46 left in the first half and didn’t come out again until 14:56 remained in the second half.
According to ESPN’s Bryan Ives, UNC has outscored ACC opponents by only two points in 78 minutes with Wilson on the bench.
Wilson, a right-handed shooter, spent a good bit of time in the dressing room with athletic trainer Doug Halverson during the second half, when X-rays were taken. His sister and mother were so concerned that they went to the dressing room to check on him.
He scored seven consecutive points for Carolina when he returned to the game with 8:47 remaining and his left wrist heavily wrapped, but finished with a season-low 12 points and sat out the last 1:47 of the game. During his return, it was obvious that he didn’t want to dribble with his left hand.
Wilson has been a dominant force in his freshman season. He leads the Tar Heels with 19.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, and has already rewritten the UNC freshman record book — opening his career with 24 consecutive double‑figure scoring games and posting 17 games with 20 or more points.
Nationally, Wilson ranks first in dunks (66) and sits among the ACC’s top five in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage (57.8%) and double‑doubles (11).
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
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