Chucky Hepburn injury update: Exploring Wisconsin guard's availability for the Big Ten Tournament
When the Wisconsin Badgers hosted practice on Tuesday, point guard Chucky Hepburn was not in attendance. Hepburn has not missed a game this season and was held out of practice after taking a hit to the head on Sunday against Purdue.
The injury came in the closing minutes of Wisconsin's 78-70 road loss to the Boilermakers. After sustaining a hit, the point guard fell to the floor, holding his head. When the play stopped, Hepburn stood up and found blood flowing from his forehead. He did not return to action for the rest of the game.
The junior had been performing impressively of late, including six assists in two of his last three matchups. But while playing against Purdue, he could only manage two points, three rebounds and one assist with a matching turnover.
His shooting performance, going 1 of 7 from the field and missing all four attempts from beyond the 3-point line, marked his poorest showing in a month since his 0 of 4 performance at Rutgers.
Hepburn played in the Badgers' 87-56 win over the Maryland Terrapins on Thursday. He put up 10 points, eight assists and three rebounds in the Big Ten Tournament matchup.
Will Chucky Hepburn participate in the Big Ten Tournament?
Hepburn is expected to play against Northwestern on Friday in the Big Ten Tournament. However, in a stunning turn of events, guard John Blackwell has replaced Chucky Hepburn in the starting lineup. A UW official said that Chucky Hepburn would be available and ready to go, but it is Blackwell who will make the start.
Reporter Rick Pizzo said the guard didn't suffer a setback in the Maryland matchup even though he was officially designated with a lower-body injury ahead of Friday's encounter.
Blackwell is averaging 8.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game.
Wisconsin defeated the 12th-seeded Maryland Terrapins in a second-round Big Ten Tournament game on Thursday.
"I thought a complete team effort, both sides of the court," Badgers coach Greg Gard said, "I thought defensively we set the tone early. Then, obviously, you start knocking down some shots and getting some offense from your defense. Just all the way up and down the lineup got great contributions."
The winner of tonight’s game will play against the winner of the quarterfinal showdown between eighth-seeded Michigan State and top-seeded Purdue on Saturday.