HARTFORD, Conn. — UConn men’s basketball center Donovan Clingan will miss the next 3-4 weeks with a right foot injury, the team announced Saturday afternoon, prior to a prime-time matchup against St. John’s. Clingan came up limping early in the second half of Wednesday’s game at Seton Hall and was held out for the remainder of the game with what head coach Dan Hurley said after the game appeared to be a sprained ankle. The 7-foot-2 star sophomore did not practice on Thursday or Friday and had an MRI done Friday morning. A team release on Saturday stated he suffered “an injury to a tendon in his right foot.” Clingan previously missed about a month leading up to the season with a foot injury he suffered in practice and appeared to have been nearing 100% health when he scored 21 points and had eight rebounds to lead the Huskies over Gonzaga. He had 14 points and seven rebounds in just 14 minutes against Seton Hall before the injury. Averaging 13.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and two blocks in just 20.8 minutes per game this season, Clingan was named Second Team All-Big East before the season in addition to multiple preseason All-America nominations. UConn will have a mandatory three-day break for the holidays and has 10 days before its next game against DePaul on Jan. 2. The Huskies will then play at Butler and at Xavier on Jan. 5 and 10, respectively, before the fourth week which includes home games against Georgetown and Creighton Jan. 14 and 17, and a trip to Villanova on Jan. 20. Without Clingan, the Huskies will have to employ “different defenses, different play calls,” fifth-year point guard Tristen Newton said Friday, before Clingan’s status was official. “Donovan’s a force and we try to feed him down low a lot. I feel like we’re a good team with or without him, he’s a big part of our team obviously, but we’re just gonna have to prepared to go. It’s a big adjustment but I’m sure coaches and us will figure it out.”
Samson Johnson, a 6-foot-10 junior serving as Clingan’s backup, will need to step up. UConn also has Youssouf Singare, a 6-10 freshman, who has been used on rare occasions this year. The Huskies could also go small, with four-man Alex Karaban stepping in at the five and other freshmen, Jaylin Stewart and Jayden Ross, potentially filling the remaining forward spot on the floor. ©2023 Hartford Courant. Visit courant.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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