North Carolina State coach Kevin Keatts doesn't blame North Carolina's Leaky Black for Terquavion Smith's injury

Two days after NC State's leading scorer Terquavion Smith left the court on a stretcher in the second half of Saturday's basketball game against North Carolina, Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts defended UNC's Leaky Black, who was ejected after fouling Smith.

"I thought it was a good basketball play," Keatts said Monday. "I didn't think Leaky did anything (wrong)." He added that Smith's injury came as he was falling to the floor.

On a drive to the rim with 9:45 left in the second half, Smith was fouled by Leaky Black and appeared to land hard on his right arm. Trainers signaled for a stretcher and wheeled Smith off the Smith Center floor as fans gave the sophomore guard a standing ovation. UNC led 59-49 at the time of the injury and won 80-69.

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Smith appeared to have an air cast on his right arm as he was carted into the tunnel. Black was tagged with a Flagrant 2 foul and was ejected from the game.

According to the Wolfpack, Smith reported neck and elbow pain and had numbness in his right arm. Due to the report of neck pain, medical procedure required the use of a backboard and stretcher to move Smith off the floor at UNC. He was taken to the UNC Medical Center and all X-rays were negative. He was released and returned to Raleigh.

At 11:24 p.m. Saturday, Smith sent out a tweet about his status: "I am fine appreciate all the prayers and concerns."

Keatts added on Monday that Smith had spent time with trainers and medical staff on Sunday, and since the Wolfpack did not practice, he was unsure if Smith would be ready to play Tuesday against Notre Dame at PNC Arena.

"He's very sore," Keatts said about Smith, who is averaging 18.7 points a game.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Terquavion Smith injury: Kevin Keatts doesn't blame UNC's Leaky Black