Boston University men’s basketball guard Tyler Morris injured his shooting hand in practice Tuesday and will be sidelined for at least one month.
BU coach Patrick Chambers said the fifth-year senior sustained the injury diving for a loose ball. X-rays taken earlier this week revealed a stress fracture in Morris’ right hand, which has been placed in a cast.
Morris has started all 13 games for the Terriers this season, averaging 11.2 points and 3.1 assists per contest. The third-year co-captain entered Wednesday leading the America East Conference in free-throw shooting with a 90.9 percent success rate.
‘It’s a big loss because he’s a leader, a fifth-year senior who really takes pride in BU basketball and what we want to do as a coaching staff,’ Chambers said. ‘But we’re not going to hang our heads and feel sorry for ourselves. Everybody, including myself, needs to step up and do a little bit more in practice and games.’
Tuesday’s setback marks the latest in a string of health issues for Morris during his collegiate career. The Indianapolis, Ind., native redshirted the 2005-06 campaign because of an ankle injury. He returned the following season, posting per-game averages of 13.4 points and 2.4 assists and a conference-best 46.9 3-point shooting percentage to earn 2006-07 America East Rookie of the Year honors, but injuries kept him out of 11 contests in 2007-08.
Last year, Morris tore his anterior cruciate ligament in practice two days before BU opened America East play and missed the Terriers’ final 18 games.
‘I told him, ‘Tyler, I feel for you. I feel bad because you worked so hard to get back off that knee injury,” Chambers said. ‘That’s part of life though. We’re always going to handle some type of adversity through our lives. He’s going to be a better person for it. I know he probably doesn’t want to hear that, but it’s the truth.
‘He’s positive and upbeat right now. I told him he’s going to be like another assistant coach. He’s going to be involved in practice, sit up front on the bench and help us coach this team.’
The absence of Morris, coupled with freshman guard B.J. Bailey’s recent release from the program and senior forward Scott Brittain’s continued unavailability due to a preseason concussion, leaves BU (5-8, 0-1 AE) with just 10 players available for Thursday’s game at the University of New Hampshire. Chambers plans to award senior walk-on forward Brendan Sullivan increased minutes in the contest.
‘We’re going to really bond and band together here,’ Chambers said. ‘I still think we can win games and that this can be a positive and uplifting season. Honestly, I’m not frustrated or down. We just have to keep plugging away.’
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