With quick turnaround, Wolfpack might have to travel to UVA shorthanded
Kevin Keatts had his full arsenal for all of one game.
C.J. Bryce returned to the lineup for N.C. State against Miami, his first time back in the lineup after missing four games with a concussion. Clemson would be the first time in a long time that Keatts would have a solid nine rotation if he wanted. Unfortunately, that wouldn’t last long.
Early in the first half, starting forward Manny Bates got tangled up with Clemson forward Aamir Simms under the basket. Bates hit the floor and started grabbing toward his head and neck area.
The redshirt freshman was flat on his back for several minutes while medical staff evaluated him, eventually walking off the floor on his own. He didn’t return to the bench and was done for the day after just six minutes of action.
N.C. State won 60-54 over the Tigers, that’s the good news. The bad news is they might head to defending national champion Virginia down not one, but two players.
Late in the second half backup forward Pat Andree limped to the bench in a lot of pain with what appeared to be an injury to his right foot. Andree, the grad transfer hopped to the scorer’s table, but had to be helped to the bench. He scored two points in 17 minutes of action. After the game, Keatts wasn’t clear on the status of either player.
“I don’t have an update on either Pat or Manny because I went straight to radio and straight to you guys after I talked to my team,” Keatts told the media. “Have I ever had a situation like this? No, I haven’t. I’m hopeful for both of those guys. I don’t want to assume anything. I don’t know what the situation is.”
Keatts didn’t have an update on their status Sunday.
After the game Andree had crutches in his locker. Keatts did sound like Bates could have returned to the game if they needed him.
“We decided to hold Manny out because I thought we had control of the game, and I could play Danny (Dixon),” Keatts said.
Dixon played six minutes for the Wolfpack.
If Bates and Andree are out against the Cavaliers, N.C. State would travel to Charlottesville with seven scholarship players available. Through 18 games this season Keatts has used five different starting lineups.
Losing Bates in the middle would be a huge blow. He has 53 blocks and ranked seventh in the NCAA with 3.12 blocks per game. He already broke the freshman block record and is 10th on the single-season blocks list. Bates also averages 5.9 points per game and 4.2 rebounds.
Bates missed his senior season of high school and all of last year with a shoulder injury. He barely made it to the first media timeout against Clemson before the game-ending injury.
“He took a pretty good hit to the head,” Devon Daniels said after the game. “I hope he can come back quickly.”
In his second game back, Bryce picked up the scoring slack, with 11 against Clemson. Keatts will need more from the senior on Monday. Bryce played all 40 minutes against the Tigers.
Andree has appeared in every game this year, with four starts, averaging 6.8 points per game. His best outing of the season was a 15-point performance against UNCG on Dec. 15. If he is unable to return, the team will miss his shooting. The Lehigh transfer is shooting 36.8 percent from three and 86.4 from the foul line this year.
Keatts, who likes to play a tough man-to-man defense, said he might try playing a zone the entire game against Virginia. It felt like a joke, knowing Keatts favors man, but without able bodies, he might not have a choice.
“I think I’m going to play 100 percent zone in that game,” Keatts announced, setting off a bunch of laughs from those who know better. “I’m serious.”
This story was originally published January 18, 2020 at 6:07 PM.
