Dayton point guard Kevin Dillard out indefinitely with back spasms

There’s no denying the importance of senior point guard Kevin Dillard to the Dayton Flyers, as Dillard leads the 8-3 Flyers in both points (15.0 ppg) and assists (4.1 apg).

Unfortunately for head coach Archie Miller, he may be without the services of Dillard for a little while as the Southern Illinois transfer is out indefinitely due to back spasms.

The injury occurred with 4:19 remaining in Dayton’s 74-73 loss to Illinois State on Wednesday night, when a simple rebound triggered the back issue. Unable to bring the ball up the court, Dillard would leave the game and not return.

“He’s not feeling real well,” Miller said on Thursday night according to Doug Harris of the Dayton Daily News. “I think it will be a longshot for him to play on Saturday. He’s dealing with a heavy dose of back spasms, and he has a hard time right now moving around.

“Anything from the back pretty much paralyzes you when it locks up. You muscles go into spasm, and at that point, you can’t really move. It’s very, very painful. It’s going to take some time to address the situation.”

Miller also noted following Thursday’s practice that the injury came more as a result of the contact Dillard takes on his many drives to the basket, an aspect of his game the Flyers need in order to be successful. And with a back injury, nailing down a concrete timetable can be difficult.

“It’s probably more of a muscle thing or an alignment thing or taking some pounding,” Miller said. “Any time you kind of get out of line, anything can spasm out on you. It could be a week. It could be two weeks. Hopefully, in the bigger picture, we don’t want anything to be lingering. We’re trying to be cautious right now.”

The injury means that Dillard will miss Saturday’s home game against Murray State, one the Flyers need in regards to both avoiding an 0-2 week and adding a solid win to their resume.

His absence means that freshman Khari Price sees more of Isaiah Canaan than originally anticipated, and Dayton may also use Vee Sanford at the point on occasion.

Following Saturday’s contest the Flyers visit USC and host UAB before beginning the most important portion of their schedule on January 9 when they open Atlantic 10 play at VCU. And given the Rams’ “havoc” style of play it’s extremely important to have a healthy point guard running the show.

Raphielle also writes for the NBE Basketball Report and can be followed on Twitter at @raphiellej.