While the Nebraska basketball team has struggled in its last handful of games, it hasn't been pointed out enough that a big reason for those struggles is that the team has been going through some things depth-wise. Jamarques Lawrence is just the latest name to pop up on the injury report.
The Huskers' star guard injured his ankle in NU's win over Penn State on Saturday, and initially, analysts wondered if it might be quite serious, considering he left the court and never returned to the bench.
On Monday evening, Nebraska head coach Fred Hoiberg had some good news about Lawrence, but (because that's the way things have gone lately) he had to add a bit of possible bad news. Lawrence's ankle is expected to be ok and he could have been cleared to play on Wednesday against Maryland, except he now has a touch of the flu.
Nebraska basketball depth tested again as Jamarques Lawrence deals with ankle and flu
Over the last couple of weeks, several Huskers have come down with an illness, and Rienk Mast and Berke Buyuktuncel both missed games with a flu so bad they couldn't stop throwing up before games.
Appearing on Huskers Radio, Hoiberg said Lawrence had to leave Monday's film session due to illness. "Knock on wood here," Hoiberg added. "But I just hope it's not going to go through the whole team."
It has already gone through the whole team to some degree. In the game that Rienk Mast missed, guard Sam Hoiberg was said to be ill, though not to the level the Huskers' big man was, as he didn't need to go to the hospital.
The good news is that Nebraska's game against Maryland should be winnable even if Jamarques Lawrence can't play. There's even an argument that he should sit if he's not 100% because the next three games are against teams with 18 or more wins.