Tudor's Take: Bad luck for UNC

Stuff happens.

That’s the only way to look at the injured left wrist that North Carolina basketball player Tyler Zeller suffered late in Tuesday’s 77-58 win over Kentucky in Chapel Hill.

There’s no one to blame.

You certainly can’t point a finger at Kentucky’s Ramon Harris, the defender on the play with less than 90 seconds to go. Zeller, a freshman, was going for a dunk. Harris was attempting to prevent an easy field goal, but he hardly made a malicious move to stop the score.

Carolina coach Roy Williams can’t be blamed. Zeller was on the court simply because he was a freshman in need of real-game exposure at a time when Tyler Hansbrough’s immediate playing status was still unknown.

And there’s no way to blame Zeller, who had not been a big offensive factor and simply wanted to end the game by capitalizing on his best scoring opportunity of the second half.

You take it for what is — bad luck. The only move for Carolina now is to request a medical redshirt for Zeller. Odds are, he’ll go pro long before a fifth season of college play is needed. He’ll be that good.

But where Carolina aches are concerned, Zeller isn’t the focus, and we all know that. Of much more importance are the situations with Hansbrough and Marcus Ginyard. Hansbrough and Ginyard, in the long run, will determine which team stands last come next spring in Detroit.