CHAPEL HILL – UNC basketball guard Cormac Ryan was injured in the first half of the Tar Heels’ exhibition game against Saint Augustine’s on Friday night at the Dean E. Smith Center.
After an assist to Jalen Washington, Ryan appeared to roll his ankle as he crossed the half-court line with just under a minute left in the first half. He immediately went into the tunnel to the locker room with UNC trainer Doug Halverson.
Ryan, who was in the starting lineup, returned to the bench in the second half with a bag of ice wrapped around his left ankle. The Notre Dame transfer finished the first half with 10 points and two assists as UNC carried a 65-26 lead into halftime against Saint Augustine’s.
Following UNC’s 117-53 win, UNC head coach Hubert Davis provided an update on Ryan’s injury.
“Just a little tweak,” Davis said. “He could’ve gone back into the game. I decided not to play him in the second half.”
A team captain in each of the last three seasons with the Fighting Irish, Ryan scored 1,173 points and made 212 three-pointers in 116 games over four seasons. He is one of seven newcomers for the Tar Heels, who added five players from the transfer portal and two freshmen to the new-look roster.
Picked to finish third in the ACC in a preseason media poll, No. 19 UNC opens the regular season Nov. 6 against Radford.
