NEW YORK — Marquette men’s basketball will have to wait for Second Team All-American guard Tyler Kolek to be healthy.
Head coach Shaka Smart announced Wednesday afternoon that Kolek will miss the Big East Tournament quarterfinals and is questionable for the rest of the tournament with an oblique injury. But, Smart said he will be healthy for the NCAA Tournament opener.
“He’s still day-to-day and not planning on playing tomorrow, but he’s close,” Smart said in a press release. “He practiced for part of our session today and he’s been working out and continues to get treatment. The plan is absolutely for him to play next week and he’s really made good progress.”
Kolek picked up the injury Feb. 28 against Providence and missed the Golden Eagles’ three final regular season games.
Kolek was a unanimous addition to the All-Big East First Team and averages a nation-leading 7.6 assists per game.
Marquette plays the winner of No. 6 seed Villanova and No. 11 DePaul Thursday at 8:30 p.m. CST.
This article was written by Jack Albright. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter/X @JackAlbrightMU.
