Injury Report — Wyoming loses its star to ACL tear
Published on Friday, 2/21/14, at 5:15 p.m. Eastern.
By Brian Edwards
Wyoming got terrible news on Wednesday when it learned that its star Larry Nance Jr. would miss the rest of the season due to a torn ACL. Nance was leading the Cowboys in scoring (15.4 points per game), rebounding (8.6 RPG), blocked shots (2.1 BPG) and steals (1.4 SPG). Larry Shyatt’s team is in the bubble picture with a 17-9 overall record, but it will be a daunting task to get to the NCAA Tournament without Nance. The Cowboys, who are 14-7-2 against the spread, play Saturday at Colorado St.
Florida reserve point guard Kasey Hill missed Wednesday’s non-covering home win over Auburn with a groin injury sustained in last Saturday’s victory at Kentucky. Billy Donovan told the media Friday that “unless he has a miraculous recovery, he’s out” Saturday at Ole Miss. Hill averages 5.6 points per game and has a 65/33 assists-to-turnovers ratio. Seniors Patric Young and Casey Prather are both playing through sore knees. Donovan said that Young wasn’t going to play against Auburn until convincing the coaching staff he could go late that afternoon. It’s a good thing he did because without Young scoring all 17 of his points in the second half, including a pair of go-ahead free throws with 19.4 seconds left, the Gators would’ve likely seen their 17-game winning streak snapped by the Tigers. We’ll keep an eye on Michael Frazier’s shooting hand. He came down hard on it late in the second half against AU. However, he did return to the game and buried a clutch 3-ball at crunch time.
Michigan St. cruised to an easy 94-79 win Thursday night at Purdue. In his second game after missing three with a wrist injury, Keith Appling played 25 minutes against the Boilermakers. Appling had one point, nine assists, four rebounds, one steal and one blocked shot. However, the wrist clearly isn’t 100 percent. Appling only took three shots from the field, missing them all, and he made just 1-of-3 at the charity stripe. He has only three points in the two games since returning, dropping his season scoring average down to 13.9 PPG. Spartans starting power forward Branden Dawson remains out with a broken bone in his hand. Dawson will most likely miss another 2-3 games.
After missing a non-covering home win over TCU earlier this week, Shane Southwell (ankle) has been upgraded to ‘probable’ for Saturday’s crucial Big 12 showdown at Kansas St. Southwell averages 10.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
Wisconsin’s Ben Brust (13.9 PPG, 4.9 RPG) is ‘questionable’ for Saturday’s game against Iowa. Brust didn’t practice Thursday after landing hard on his back at Wednesday’s practice.
Alabama forward Nick Jacobs has taken an indefinite leave of absence from the team. Jacobs was averaging 8.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game for the Crimson Tide, who fell to 10-16 overall and 4-9 in the SEC after Thursday’s blowout loss at Texas A&M.
In a must-win game Saturday at Kentucky, LSU won’t be at full strength. Malik Morgan is done for the season after suffering a knee injury. Morgan was averaging 4.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Shavon Coleman is ‘questionable’ after sustaining a concussion in Wednesday’s win over Mississippi St. Coleman, who averages 9.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, scored 18 points against the Bulldogs.
St. John’s Chris Obekpa will miss 10-14 days after spraining his ankle at practice on Feb. 17. Obekpa averages 4.2 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. The Red Storm has won five in a row and eight of its last nine.
Southern Cal won’t have leading scorer Byron Wesley (17.6 PPG, 6.9 RPG) for a second straight game when it faces California on Sunday. Wesley is serving a suspension and in his absence, the Trojans got thumped by Stanford, 80-59.
So. Miss won’t have Michael Craig (11.5 PPG, 7.5 RPG) for Saturday’s game against UTEP. Craig is dealing with an ankle sprain.
Miami has suspended forward James Kelly for an indefinite period of time for a violation of team rules. Kelly was averaging 7.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest.
Northwestern will be without reserve big man Nikola Cerina after the NCAA suspended him for one game for his role in a minor altercation in this week’s loss at Ohio St.
Harvard’s depth has taken two more hits. Two reserves averaging double-figure minutes, Jonah Travis and Agunwa Okolie, are out indefinitely. Travis is recovering from a concussion, while Okolie has a knee injury. The Crimson is already without center Kenyatta Smith for the rest of the year.
La Salle’s Jerrell Wright is a question mark for Saturday’s game against Richmond due to a knee injury. Wright averages 12.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
Akron could be without three key contributors for Saturday’s home game vs. Ohio. Nick Harney (8.9 PPG, 3.6 RPG) has been suspended indefinitely, while Jake Kretzer (undisclosed) and Reggie McAdams (mono) are listed as ‘questionable.’ Kretzer averages 7.8 PPG and McAdams averages 6.3 points per contest.
The Bobcats are also dealing with injuries. Ricardo Johnson (7.8 PPG, 4.4 RPG) is out for the year with a broken leg, and a leg injury has Stevie Taylor (8.6 PPG, 3.0 APG) ‘questionable’ against the Zips.
UW-Milwaukee’s Jordan Aaron (14.3 PPG) won’t play against Cleveland St. due to a disciplinary matter.
