First the top-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels lost Marcus Ginyard, their top defensive player, to a stress fracture on his left foot. Now they have lost the nation's top player in Tyler Hansbrough.

The 6-foot-9 senior big man is out indefinitely with a stress reaction in his right shin.

``We don't know how long it'll be," UNC spokeman Steve Kirschner said. "He's going to have to shut it down for a while."

Hansbrough sat out practice for just the third time in his career, so you know it's serious if he missed any time on the court.

The folks at North Carolina aren't saying how long Hansbrough will miss, but it could be a month or so - which could be a significant early hit for everyone's No. 1 team.

Without Hansbrough and Ginyard, it's highly unlikely the Tar Heels run the table in Maui and also knock off Michigan State in Detroit. They may even have trouble with Patrick Patterson and Kentucky on Nov. 18 in Chapel Hill.

Sure, the Tar Heels are deep - but not deep enough to lose two starters without missing a beat.

Don't try and tell me Deon Thompson's going to be able to stop Luke Harangody if the Tar Heels go up against Notre Dame in the championship game of the Maui Invitational. Freshman Ed Davis is already hurt and isn't physically ready, anyway. Fellow frosh Tyler Zeller doesn't stand a chance against 'Gody.

You've got to feel badly for Psycho T, though, since he decided to return for his senior campaign because, well, he loves college basketball.

That was evident on Midnight Madness last week when he participated in the skits - or even when he was telling me about jumping off the roof into the pool this past summer.

The positive - if there is a positive in all of this - is that the doctors seem to have caught the injury before it got too serious. This is a precursor to a stress fracture, which is what will sideline Ginyard for about two months.

``We don't know exactly how long he'll miss, but we've got to err on the side of caution," Kirschner said.

They had better, because realistically, the Tar Heels aren't hanging a banner without their Psycho T.