When the Virginia Cavaliers lost star forward Justin Anderson, many Cavaliers fans immediately panicked thinking that their nearly flawless season could be derailed by injuries. Against the odds, Virginia has been able to record victory after victory since the injury, but their most recent win may prove costly for the Wahoos.
During Sunday’s win, Virginia lost starting point guard London Perrantes to a broken nose.
While playing defense, Perrantes collided with teammate Malcolm Brogdon, and was left bloodied and in pain. Following the collision, Perrantes was unable to return to the court, and head coach Tony Bennett informed the media of the apparent broken nose during his post-game press conference.
“His nose didn’t look like where it should be. I assume he broke his nose, but we don’t know anything for sure. We will see how severe it is and if he needs to be out. There are other opportunities for other guys if so,” Bennett said.
Luckily for coach Bennett, the injury shouldn’t keep Perrantes off the court for long and a facemask could prevent him from missing any game action beyond this past Sunday. Perrantes’ status remains in question, and should he be unable to go Wednesday against Wake Forest freshman Devon Hall will get the starting nod against the mediocre Demon Deacons. Prior to the injury, Perrantes was averaging 5.9 points per game and had been the main initiator of the Virginia offense.
In his absence, coach Bennett will also likely use Brogdon, the team’s leading scorer, to spark the action during key situations.
Virginia holds a comfortable two game lead in the ever-difficult ACC standings and faces only one remaining ranked opponent before the beginning of the conference tournament. If the Cavaliers are able to avoid the major collapse, it would be the program’s second consecutive regular season title.
*Section Photo credit to Patrick McDermott, Getty Images; Featured Photo (above) credit to Andrew Shurtleff, Associated Press
