Kevin Keatts addresses how his team regrouped after Terquavion Smith injury

A scary injury occurred on Saturday inside the Dean E. Smith Center, as NC State guard Terquavion Smith had to be stretchered off of the court following a Flagrant 2 foul committed by North Carolina‘s Leaky Black.

By being assessed a Flagrant 2, Black was ejected from the contest. But the attention immediately shifted to the health of Smith, who at the time was being assessed for elbow and neck injuries. Luckily for Smith and NC State, he has seemingly avoided any serious injury after X-ray’s came back negative and he was deemed day-to-day.

At the time of the play, NC State trailed UNC 59-49. But even without having Smith on the court, the Wolfpack didn’t go down quietly. After hitting the free throws that were given as a result of the Flagrant 2, NC State then made a layup to cut the lead down to six. UNC started to pull away, but NC State kept coming back to keep things close.

In the end, UNC won 80-69 on Saturday. But NC State head coach Kevin Keatts was pleased with how his team battled, and he pointed out how the team came closer together in response to Smith’s scary injury.

“Well it’s hard,” Keatts said. “When you look at the way our guys are really close, and this is a close-knit bunch, I thought we handled it the best that we could. I thought our guys did a great job coming together. I think we may have cut the lead to possibly six.”

Even though he was assessed a Flagrant 2 on the play and picked up a subsequent ejection, Black meant no harm to Smith. He quickly apologized for the play, saying that he never intended for “anything foul” to happen.

Prior to his injury, Smith had played 23 minutes against UNC with 12 points, one rebound and one assist for NC State on Saturday. He is a key contributor for the Wolfpack and has become one of the ACC’s best players, averaging 18.7 points, 4.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 20 games this season.

How long Smith will be sidelined has not yet been determined. NC State plays at home on Tuesday, Jan. 24 against Notre Dame before going back on the road on Saturday, Jan. 28 against Wake Forest.