Monday, January 21, 2013
Can Utah State cope with key injuries?
By Luke Lapinski
Utah State's season has taken a dramatic turn in the wrong direction. The Aggies were cruising along at 14-1, then they face New Mexico State last Thursday and things got a lot more difficult. They lost the game and, more importantly, lost Preston Medlin and Kyisean Reed to injury.
As it turns out, those two injuries could be pretty costly. Medlin was leading the team in scoring (16.3 points per game) and assists (3.2 apg) and could be sidelined for up to two months with a fractured wrist. Unless Utah State makes a trip to the postseason, that could potentially end his season. Meanwhile, Reed was third on the team in scoring (12.1 ppg) and led the way with 1.8 blocks and 1.6 steals per contest. He's dealing with a torn ACL, and is obviously out for the remainder of the year.
Losing two players of that caliber would be tough for any team to handle, and the Aggies are no different. They fell to Denver on Saturday without the services of Medlin and Reed, and will have to scramble to find other ways to score in a hurry. Jarred Shaw will likely have to shoulder even more of an offensive load, while guys like Marvin Jean, Ben Clifford and TeNale Roland figure to see a bump in playing time.
