Iowa State updates status of injured forward Joshua Jefferson
· Yahoo Sports
There’s one large unknown heading into Friday night’s Sweet 16 matchup between Iowa State and Tennessee. That’s the status of Iowa State forward and second-leading scorer Joshua Jefferson, who missed the round of 32 with an ankle injury. Jefferson suffered the injury in the first round against Tennessee State.
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On Wednesday, Iowa State head coach TJ Otzelberger gave an update on how things are progressing.
“He’s working tirelessly everyday,” Otzelberger said of Jefferson. “Countless sessions in the training room, everything he can. His ankle is getting better every single day. It’s going to take right up to game time, we’re going to give it every possible chance to do that, and he’s doing everything that he can do.
“There’s not any percentages, predictions — unlikely, likely — it is literally he is working tirelessly to do everything, to compete, everything he can do to be on the court for our team. We’ll see, each day there is significant progress, but we’ll see where we’re at game time Friday night.”
Jefferson is averaging 16.4 points per game. The 6-9, 240 pound forward is Iowa State’s leading rebounder, a category that will be very important against the board-crashing Volunteers. Blake Buchanan, a 6-10 junior, stepped up to play 31 minutes against Kentucky. He responded with nine points and eight boards in the 19-point win. Dominykas Pleta is the next true big man in the rotation, standing in at 6-11, 240 pounds.
Should Jefferson not be able to go, Tennessee would have a pretty good size advantage with potential to dominate inside. Iowa State countered this issue against Kentucky with a big game from senior point guard Tamin Lipsey, who poured in 26 points and ten assists. Letting Lipsey be the aggressor while running a smaller lineup would undoubtedly be the plan for Otzelberger on Friday night, should Jefferson remain on the sideline.
Tip-off is set for 10:10 p.m. ET on TBS.