NEW YORK — Creighton center Ryan Kalkbrenner avoided a serious injury to his right foot Sunday, but coach Greg McDermott said the 24th-ranked Bluejays’ leading scorer should expect some lingering soreness.
With 9:45 remaining in the second half of Creighton’s 79-73 loss to No. 9 St. John’s, Kalkbrenner jostled with Zuby Ejiofor and RJ Luis Jr. for position to get a defensive rebound after a missed 3-point try. He appeared to collide with Luis, fell to the court and was holding the top of his right foot.
After staying down for a few minutes, Kalkbrenner was helped to the locker room for further evaluation. He returned with 3:47 left and Creighton trailing 68-62.
“He tweaked it pretty good but obviously he came back,” McDermott said. “They taped it up and I think he’s going to be sore for a few days.”
Kalkbrenner attempted two shots after returning and finished with 12 points, his second-lowest total in a conference game.
Creighton trails St. John’s by two games for the Big East lead and the injury came at a fortunate time in the schedule. The Bluejays don’t play again until next Sunday against Georgetown.
The Big East Preseason Player of the Year, Kalkbrenner entered Sunday as the conference’s third-leading scorer at 18.7 points behind Marquette’s Kam Jones and Villanova’s Eric Dixon.
