N.C. State guard Terquavion Smith seriously injured after nasty fall against North Carolina in second half

N.C. State guard Terquavion Smith was seriously injured on Saturday afternoon in the second half of the N.C. State-North Carolina matchup in the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Smith was driving to the hoop on a routine layup but was hit in the face by North Carolina’s Leaky Black in mid-air. As Black was trying to block the shot attempt, it caused Smith to land very awkwardly on his tailbone as he crashed to the hardwood. The Smith Center was quiet for several minutes as medical personnel and EMTs tended to Smith on the baseline. He was down for several minutes and according to the ACC Network, Smith had what was being defined as an “elbow and neck injury” at that point in time. He was eventually taken off the floor on a stretcher after several minutes.

A flagrant two foul was assessed on North Carolina’s Leaky Black following the play, which means he was immediately ejected from the game.

Here is the video of the N.C. State star being taken off the floor by medical personnel.

N.C. State star Terquavion Smith was stretchered off the court at North Carolina with what the school has called elbow and neck injuries.

He hit the floor hard after getting fouled by Leaky Black. Black was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul. pic.twitter.com/mvuGPpG8fo

— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) January 21, 2023

The play happened with 9:45 remaining in the second half of the game. The N.C. State Twitter page also officially stated that Smith had an elbow and neck injury. He did not return to Saturday’s game. North Carolina ended up winning, 80-69.

Leaky Black later apologized for the incident, which didn’t seem like a malicious foul in any way. Just a highly, highly unfortunate accident. Those kinds of things happen from time to time in sports.

Terquavion Smith is one of the best players in all of college basketball. N.C. State will certainly miss him if he has to miss any time. For now, fans can rest easy knowing that he’ll be okay, since he updated everyone and tweeted that he’s going to be fine on late Saturday evening. Before the injury, the Wolfpack’s superstar pumped in 12 points, one rebound, and one assist in 23 minutes of work against UNC. This season, he’s averaging 19.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game.