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All-American Bonzie Colson expected to miss eight weeks for Notre Dame

NCAA Basketball Tournament - East Regional - Notre Dame v North Carolina

PHILADELPHIA, PA - MARCH 27: Bonzie Colson #35 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish drives to the basket against Brice Johnson #11 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament East Regional Final at Wells Fargo Center on March 27, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

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Notre Dame received some tough news on Tuesday as the school announced that senior forward Bonzie Colson is expected to miss up to eight weeks recovering from a left foot fracture.

The 6-foot-6 Colson will undergo surgery on his left foot after suffering the injury in practice this week.

A third-team AP All-American last season, Colson is averaging 21.4 points and 10.4 rebounds per game for the Fighting Irish. One of the most versatile offensive players in the country, Colson is a huge part of Notre Dame’s potent attack. Although he’s been struggling from three-point range this season, Colson is capable of scoring from all over the floor as he’s often a matchup nightmare for the opposition.

Notre Dame (11-3) is going to probably play the ACC regular season schedule without Colson as they hope he can return in time for the postseason. Without Colson in the lineup, the Irish need a third scorer to step up as freshman wing D.J. Harvey and sophomore forward John Mooney could see more significant playing time.

If Notre Dame wants to maintain its smaller, floor-spacing lineup, then Harvey could play. If the Irish need to go bigger, than the 6-foot-9 Mooney could be called on for more minutes. Mooney is also capable of spacing the floor as a perimeter shooter but he isn’t nearly the same as Colson in other facets of the game.

Either way, this is a huge blow to Notre Dame’s ACC title hopes as they’ll have to continue to pile up wins to make the NCAA tournament. Notre Dame will have to rely heavily on its backcourt of Matt Farrell, T.J. Gibbs and Rex Pflueger when it comes to generating offense.