North Carolina Tar Heels forward Brady Manek is assisted from the floor by forward Leaky Black (1) and guard R.J. Davis (4) in the first half against the Kansas Jayhawks. Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Brady Manek takes big shot to head against Kansas

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 4/4/22

North Carolina got off to a bad start in Monday night’s championship game against Kansas, in more ways than one.

Not only did the Jayhawks jump out to a 7-0 lead, but North Carolina forward Brady Manek got hurt almost immediately.

Kansas was leading 7-3 just over three minutes into the game. They passed the ball in to David McCormack in the key, who made a jumphook to go up 9-3. As McCormack was coming down, his left arm hit Manek on the head.

Inadvertent elbow to Brady Manek after the shot.

Hopefully he’s ok pic.twitter.com/323svd4gwF

— TimeoutSPORTS__ (@TimeoutSPORTS3) April 5, 2022

Manek was down on the court in pain from the shot to the head/face.

Despite taking the big hit to the head, Manek remained in the game.

The senior transfer from Oklahoma has averaged 15.2 points and 5.9 rebounds per game this season. This was a tough break for him in the biggest game of his career, though he tried to fight through it.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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