WATCH: UNC's Brady Manek ejected on controversial flagrant 2 foul vs. Baylor
Brady Manek has been coming up big for North Carolina during the NCAA Tournament. He scored 28 points in the Tar Heels opening round victory over Marquette, and he has scored 26 points in UNC’s Round of 32 matchup against Baylor.
But now, UNC will have to finish the game without Manek. The star forward was called for a controversial flagrant 2 foul in the second half, ensuing in his ejection from the remainder of the game. Manek was boxing out for a rebound, and an inadvertent elbow caught Baylor’s Jeremy Sochan up high.
UNC has a big lead over Baylor, but the Tar Heels will miss Manek over the stretch run of this game. In addition to his 26 points, Manek had five rebounds and two assists. He connected on eight of his 13 shots, including 4-for-8 from beyond the three-point arc.
Manek has come up big for UNC in the NCAA Tournament
Without Manek, UNC will have to rely on Armando Bacot down the stretch. Unfortunately for the Tar Heels, Bacot picked up his third and fourth fouls shortly following Manek’s ejection. UNC’s bench is already extremely short, and that depth will be tested even with a big lead against Baylor. Caleb Love also fouled out late in the first half.
R.J. Davis has put on a show for the Tar Heels, hitting the 20-point mark. He made seven of his first ten shots and five of his first eight three-point attempts.
Manek is in his first season at UNC after spending the first four years of his collegiate career at Oklahoma. On the season, he is averaging 14.8 points with 5.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 29.6 minutes per game. He is shooting 49.1% from the field and 39.1% from three.
Entering Saturday’s game against Baylor, Manek had scored at least 20 points in four of UNC’s previous five games. Even with his ejection against Baylor, that streak now sits at five out of six.