Iowa State forward Joshua Jefferson is a long shot to play in the No. 2 seeded Cyclones’ game against No. 7 seed Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday after the All-American arrived at the arena for practice with a boot still on his sprained left ankle.
The Cyclones’ second-leading scorer and top rebounder was hurt about 2 1/2 minutes into Friday’s 108-74 rout of Tennessee State when he landed awkwardly on his ankle following a layup. Jefferson needed help from their training staff to leave the court, and while X-rays were negative, the 6-foot-9 forward wound up watching the rest of the game from the bench.
He was still using crutches to help him get around as the Cyclones practiced Saturday at Enterprise Center.
“Right now, we’re continuing to evaluate,” Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger said. “It appears unlikely, but you never want to rule out anything. We’ll just continue to do what we can in his best interest, and we’ll be prepared to go either way.”
Jefferson said he was doing “as much rehab as I can,” but time is not on his side.
“A lot of compression and then moving it around,” Jefferson said, when asked what he can do to help his recovery. “The best thing right now is to get it moving as much as I can, and then start to be able to walk again.”
Jefferson is averaging 16.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists for the Cyclones, who matched the best NCAA seed in school history and are trying to reach their first Final Four since 1944. Those across-the-board numbers are a big reason why Jefferson was a second-team AP All-American this season, missing out on the first team by a single point in voting.
“It definitely affects us. What he does is special. Not a lot of people can do what he does,” Cyclones guard Jamarion Batemon said, “but the preparation we put in — we’ve got a deep bench, and players are ready to step up when their number is called.”
Iowa State has experience playing without one of its most important players. Tamin Lipsey missed multiple games after getting hurt during the Players Era Festival early in the season; the veteran point guard also hurt his groin in the Big 12 Tournament.
“So that allowed us to play with some different lineups,” said Blake Buchanan, whose interior presence will be counted upon even more should Jefferson be unable to play. “Our staff does a good job of having confidence in us and knowing what we can do.
“It’s unfortunate with J-Jeff,” Buchanan said, “but they have confidence that, yeah, he’s out, but we have other guys that can play.”
Kentucky coach Mark Pope said the Wildcats would prepare as if Jefferson would play on Sunday. But he also said what the Cyclones do probably won’t change a lot regardless of who Otzelberger is able to put on the floor.
“They have such an ingrained identity of who they are,” Pope said. “He’s a special player, don’t get me wrong, but Iowa State is going to be Iowa State whoever T.J. rolls out on the court. He could grab five guys from the rec center and come out in a week and be an incredibly intense defensive juggernaut, and find ways to score. We’ll prepare for who Iowa State is.”
Jefferson, a senior from Las Vegas, began his career at Saint Mary’s, where his sophomore season was cut short by an injury. Once he transferred to Iowa State, he flourished into a team leader, helping the Cyclones reach the second round of the NCAA tourney last year.
Jefferson’s fervent hope is the Cyclones can go at least one more step, and give him another opportunity to suit up this season.
“The fact that he did get injured early (Thursday) allowed some guys who haven’t played as much to expand their role a little bit. That was good that way,” Buchanan said. “Obviously, we hope he can be out there with us; he’s an All-American and a big part of our team. But T.J. just told us to honor him in everything we do if he can’t be out there.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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