It will be a long night for Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball fans. All-America candidate Trevor Mbakwe was forced to leave Sunday night's Championship game of the Old Spice Classic when his right knee buckled as he pulled down a rebound early in the second half against the Dayton Flyers. He left the game with assistance and later appeared on crutches at the end of the 86-70 loss to the Flyers.
Mbakwe now has an MRI scheduled for Monday according to ESPN's Andy Katz:
ESPNAndyKatz Andy Katz Sorry. Got my days confused. Yes. The MRI on Mbakwe will be Monday.
The Daily Gopher has yet to post about the injury, but many comments on their Open Thread for tonight's game agreed that any serious injury to Mbakwe would be very damaging for the Golden Gophers' season long hopes. Mbakwe was named as a third-team All-American by several outlets in the preseason and he is averaging 14.8 points and 10 rebounds per game for Minnesota.