UNC's Garrison Brooks loses tooth in tourney win over Washington

March 25 (UPI) -- North Carolina sophomore forward Garrison Brooks took a nasty elbow in the teams' NCAA tournament win Sunday, and his mouth paid the price for it.

The forward lost a tooth and broke another according to ESPN, after he was hit by an elbow from Washington's Noah Dickerson around the 12:20 mark of the first half.

North Carolina went on to a 81-59 victory to advance to the Sweet 16, and Brooks left the court to get stitches for the cut on his lip, but came back to play in the second half.

In the win, Brooks played 21 minutes, putting in five points and five rebounds.

"Garrison, he'll have to go see the dentist before we leave town to get two teeth straightened out," Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said following the win.

The school reported that in the end, Brooks needed stitches on his lower lip, had one tooth loosened and another potentially fractured.

Officials looked at the play and determined that Dickerson "made a normal basketball play with the ball over his shoulders and his arms more vertical than horizontal," according to an NCAA statement given to a pool reporter after the game.

No foul was assessed on the play, and Dickerson scored to make it a 21-12 lead in favor of the Tar Heels at the time.

"He was just huge for us," North Carolina senior forward Luke Maye said about Brooks.

"And it really shows how much character we have in the locker room."

The Tar Heels take on No. 5 seed Auburn on Friday at 7:29 p.m. EDT in the Sweet 16.