Hubert Davis provides injury update on Pete Nance, info on issues

North Carolina was without transfer forward Pete Nance against Notre Dame on Saturday as the forward deals with a back injury. Head coach Hubert Davis was optimistic to get Nance back in the lineup soon.

Nance hurt his back on January 4 against Wake Forest, leaving the game after just two minutes played. Davis seemed to think he was close to playing against the Irish, but he just wasn’t quite ready.

“He gets dramatically better every day. But he wasn’t well enough to play today so our hope is that he’ll be ready to practice tomorrow. If not tomorrow my expectation, hope is he’ll practice on Monday and then be ready for Tuesday,” Davis said.

On Tuesday, the Tar Heels travel on the road to face a tough, experience Virginia squad.

Davis also shared some more information about what is limiting Nance and how.

“But the thing with his back, there’s two things. One, they had to get it to a place where the muscles would relax. We’re there, now,” Davis said. “Now, just trying to keep his hips stable and aligned. That’s the thing holding, held in place. So if it can continue to be held in place, that’s the final step for him to play. And the hope is he’ll be ready against Virginia on Tuesday night.”

Puff Johnson addresses the play that led to Flagrant 2, ejection on Notre Dame’s Cormac Ryan

North Carolina forward Puff Johnson didn’t have much to say after Notre Dame guard Cormac Ryan was ejected for a flagrant foul against him Saturday in an 81-64 Tar Heels victory.

As Johnson went up for a dunk, Ryan hit him hard in the face as the former hit the ground. The incident resulted in scuffle between the Fighting Irish and UNC before Ryan was ejected.

However, asked about the foul after the game, Johnson claimed not to remember what happened.

“Honestly, I don’t even remember,” he said. “I remember going up and dunking. I didn’t know anyone was behind me at the time. I just went up and dunked it as hard as I could. That’s about all I remember. I was confused because they stopped play and went to the monitor. I didn’t see what happened.”

Puff Johnson went on to say he “didn’t even notice” any malicious contact from Cormac Ryan on the play. The UNC junior finished the game with 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting in addition to six rebounds across 22 minutes off the bench.

At the time of his exit, Ryan was 3-12 shooting and had amassed eight points and six rebounds. North Carolina already held an 11-point lead at the time of the foul, and only saw it increase from then on.

UNC improves to 11-5 on the season with the win, while Notre Dame dropped to 8-8. The Tar Heels will hope to keep their winning streak alive on Tuesday when they take on No. 11 Virginia. The Fighting Irish, on the other hand, will look to bounce back in a Tuesday matchup against Georgia Tech.