Dana Altman and the Oregon Ducks were dealt another significant blow over the weekend with guard Keeshawn Barthelemy exiting the game on Saturday against the Arizona Wildcats with what looked like a serious leg injury.
On Tuesday after practice, Altman confirmed to media members that Barthelemy’s status for the rest of the season was up in the air, but a return didn’t look very likely.
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“A lot of the tests came out okay, and we’ve still got some more to run, but he’s resting comfortably,” Altman said.
That wasn’t the only gut punch that was delivered on the injury front. Altman soon announced that true freshman Mookie Cook was also unlikely to return this season as he continues to deal with a foot injury that has plagued him for almost 9 months now.
“He’s going to see a specialist when we’re in LA,” Altman said. “It doesn’t look good.”
While the Ducks have been fortunate with the return of both N’Faly Dante and Nate Bittle over the past few weeks, losing two guards at this point in the season when every game becomes more and more important is not an easy thing to deal with. While Cook has only played in 5 games this year, Barthelemy acted as an offensive spark off of the bench, averaging 8 points in 23 minutes with 38.5% shooting from deep.
It’s not just the loss of someone like Barthelemy, but the gruesome way in which they lost in that is difficult to deal with.
“Injuries are bound to happen,” veteran forward Jadrian Tracey said on Tuesday. “Something like his, you can’t really avoid that. It was God. So we’re all going to step up and try to win it for him and play for him. We can’t really focus on the injuries right now.”
The Ducks have an important road trip coming up this week, with a game against the USC Trojans on Thursday, followed by a trip to face the resurgent UCLA Bruins on Saturday down in Los Angeles. While a sweep would certainly be nice, beating the Bruins is a win that would look the most impressive on the schedule.
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