When Nebraska takes on Illinois on Sunday afternoon, the Huskers are hoping to be at full strength. Facing their second straight Top 10 team this week, the Huskers are going through their most brutal stretch of the season, and they'd love to have Rienk Mast back after missing the loss against Michigan.
The good news is that Mast wasn't injured for the game against the Wolverines. He came down with a bad case of the flu just hours ahead of tip-off. A case that's been moving through the program for the last few weeks.
The bad news is that the Nebraska star's flu was bad enough that he was taken to the ER after the Huskers returned to Lincoln from Ann Arbor because he kept vomiting and couldn't even hold sips of water down.
Why Rienk Mast remains questionable for Nebraska basketball against Illinois
Earlier this week, head coach Fred Hoiberg addressed both Mast's and forward Braden Frager's injury issues as they hope to get both back for the game on Sunday afternoon. Neither is guaranteed to be back, but there is hope that both will be able to play at least some minutes.
If Rienk Mast isn't able to play, and play quite a few minutes, Hoiberg made it clear the reason for that is because the illness was bad enough that he's lost quite a bit of weight. It's a safe bet that he's been feeling weak.
For now, Nebraska will almost certainly list Rienk Mast as "questionable," though much like the game against the Wolverines, there won't be any kind of update until warmups and the Huskers see how he's feeling.
Update as of 12pm: Mast was not included on the injury report, meaning he will play on Sunday. How much is still up in the air.