Injury Report: No. 10 Tennessee will be shorthanded at No. 17 North Carolina
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — No. 10 Tennessee will be without sophomore power forward Tobe Awaka for Wednesday night’s game at No. 17 North Carolina. Awaka suffered an ankle injury last week against Syracuse in the Maui Invitational.
Redshirt freshman guard Freddie Dilione V will also be sidelined for a fourth straight game with a left foot injury.
The Vols (4-2) and Tar Heels (5-1), meeting in the inaugural ACC-SEC Challenge, are scheduled for a 7:15 p.m. Eastern Time start (TV: ESPN) at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill.
Awaka, who did not participate in Monday’s open practice at Thompson-Boling Arena, injured the ankle early in the 73-56 win over Syracuse in Honolulu. He played each of the next two days, though, playing 12 minutes against Purdue and seven against Kansas.
He’s averaging 3.7 points and 2.8 rebounds in 9.2 minutes per game through six games this season.
No. 10 Tennessee at No. 17 North Carolina: How To Watch
Start Time: Wednesday, 7:15 p.m. Eastern Time
TV: ESPN (Play-by-play Karl Ravech, Analyst: Jimmy Dykes, Reporter: Myron Medcalf)
Streaming: FuboTV
Radio: WNML-FM 99.1 in Knoxville (Play-by-play: Bob Kesling, Analyst: Burt Bertelkamp). The Vol Network radio broadcast can be heard on local affiliates across the state of Tennessee.
Location: Dean Smith Center (21,750)
The Line: North Carolina -2
KenPom Prediction: North Carolina 73, Tennessee 71 (Vols 41% chance to win)
Freddie Dilione V exited in the first half against Wofford
Rick Barnes described Dilione as “day-to-day” before practice on Monday.
“We got back (from Hawaii),” Barnes said, “he didn’t do do anything with us (in practice). We gotta get him healthy. That’s a tough one. If you don’t get it fixed, it, it’ll linger all year. And we don’t want that.
“We’re still in November and we got a long way to go. So we gotta make sure we get him totally healthy and before we can get him back out there.”
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Dilione didn’t play in the second half against Wofford after exiting with a limp in the first half. He played two minutes before leaving the game. Barnes said after the game that Dilione told Tennessee staffers that he felt a pop in his foot.
He was scoreless in three minutes in the 80-70 win at Wisconsin on November 10 and didn’t play in the game in the second half. He had seven points in 16 minutes against Tennessee Tech in the season-opening win on November 6, going 3-for-5 from the field with three rebounds and three assists.
Dilione was ruled out for the Maui Invitational last week just before the Vols opened the tournament with a 73-56 win over Syracuse.
Barnes said during a Zoom press conference before the Maui tournament described the injury as a “partial tear” in the plantar fascia.
“I think it varies on the degree that it’s partially torn,” Barnes said. “Other than that, I don’t know what to tell you. That’s what I remember them telling me about it.”
