The Minnesota Golden Gophers cannot afford to lose All-America candidate and star forward Trevor Mbakwe, but it appears he may be out for some time after he was injured sunday evening during the championship game of the Old Spice Classic against the Dayton Flyers.
Mbakwe appeared to injure his right knee in the second half of Minnesota's game with the Flyers according to ESPN 1500:
Caught by defender in the post, Mbakwe's knee buckled from underneath him as he collapsed to the ground in immense pain. After being looked at on the court by team trainers, teammates Oto Osenieks and Chris Halvorson slowly walked him to the locker room.
Mbakwe later returned to the Gophers' bench, where he sat with his head down and a large bag of ice on the knee. A few minutes later he exited again to the locker room -- this time on crutches.
Mbakwe is a projected lottery pick in the 2012 NBA Draft and was named a Third Team Preseason All-American. Dayton leads Minnesota 74-59 late in the second half in Orlando.