‘Manek ejection was a joke.’ North Carolina Tar Heels star ejected for elbow vs. Baylor

Stefan Stevenson
·2 min read
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North Carolina Tar Heels forward Brady Manek was ejected for throwing an elbow at at a Baylor player in the second half of Saturday’s second round NCAA Tournament game at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth.

Much of the reaction on social media was in Manek’s defense. Manek’s flagrant foul appeared inadvertent while he was boxing out for a rebound.

The No. 8 seed Tar Heels were leading by 25 with 10:08 remaining at the time of the disqualification. The No. 1 seed Bears were mounting a rally late and had cut the deficit to three with under two minutes remaining behind a 30-9 run. The Bears tied the game at 80-80 with 15 seconds left to force overtime. But the Tar Heals rallied to win 93-86.

Manek started four years for the Oklahoma Sooners before transferring as a graduate student to North Carolina for his final season. Manek was leading the Tar Heels with 26 points at the time of the ejection.

According to the NCAA rule book, a flagrant 2 foul involves unsportsmanlike conduct that is extreme in nature, including “when a player swings an elbow excessively and makes contact above the shoulders”, or excessive or severe contact during a dead ball.