Kansas big man Udoka Azubuike exited the Jayhawks’ home game against Wofford on Tuesday night with a potentially serious ankle injury.
Head coach Bill Self told ESPN during the halftime interview that Azubuike would be out indefinitely with a high ankle sprain. That would mean the junior center could be out for at least a few weeks, as high ankle sprains (especially for big men like Azubuike) can take quite some time to heal.
He elaborated on the injury in the postgame press conference.
“X-rays came back negative, but he is going to be out; meaning not day-to-day,” Self said in his postgame press conference. “Hopefully we will have him back healthy, but we will wait and see. It was a very legitimate ankle sprain.”
This angle of the injury also doesn’t look good, as it appears that Azubuike’s ankle appears to be stuck in a position that you don’t want your ankle to be stuck in.
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— Jake Jeckel (@JeckelJake) December 5, 2018
Without playing WebMD before we know the full extent of the injury -- this doesn’t look good for Kansas. While the Jayhawks have some frontcourt depth thanks to the Lawson brothers and freshman big man David McCormack, Azubuike is one of the most efficient and productive post players in the country. Kansas ideally needs him to be healthy if they envision themselves as a national title contender.
So far this season, Azubuike is putting up 15.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. Kansas doesn’t play another marquee team until Dec. 15, when they host Villanova, but it does not appear that Azubuike will be back by then.
The Jayhawks begin Big 12 play on Jan. 2nd. Their remaining non-conference games are:
- Dec. 8th vs. New Mexico State
- Dec. 15th vs. Villanova
- Dec. 18th vs. South Dakota
- Dec. 22nd at Arizona State
- Dec. 29th vs. Eastern Michigan