Oregon’s hopes for a national championship took a hit on Saturday night, hours before the team was set to tip with Arizona in the Pac-12 Conference Tournament championship game in Las Vegas.
Matt Prehm of 247 Sports reported that rim protector Chris Boucher has suffered a torn ACL and is done for the remainder of the season. Prehem reported that the injury occurred in the first half of Oregon’s 73-65 win over Cal in the tournament semifinals.
While the news broke Saturday night, the program has not commented on the status of the senior big man. That isn’t to say the reports are inaccurate. Oregon is vying with Gonzaga and Arizona for the No. 1 seed in the West Region. The NCAA Tournament selection committee factors in injuries to key players and how teams perform with/without them in the lineup. So, we likely won’t receive a statement from the university until after the seedings are announced.
Boucher averaged 11.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. He had been a key reserve for the Ducks since he began coming off the bench once he recovered from a foot injury in mid December.