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Minnesota’s injury woes worsen with Jaylen Crocker-Johnson out indefinitely as season winds down

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota junior forward Jaylen Crocker-Johnson, the team’s second-leading scorer who has missed the last two games with a foot injury, will be sidelined indefinitely, coach Niko Medved said on Friday.

Crocker-Johnson, who also has the most rebounds for the depleted Gophers, is unlikely to recover in time to play again this season with the team’s preference to be cautious with the injury, Medved told reporters.

“Right now, we’re just planning that he is not going to be back,” Medved said. “We’ll see what happens, but that’s the way we’re approaching it.”

The Gophers (12-14, 5-10 Big Ten), who host Rutgers on Saturday, are essentially down to a six-player rotation. They lost starters Robert Vaihola and Chansey Willis to season-ending injuries in November. Backups B.J. Omot and Chance Stephens have been unavailable all season.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before, to the point where the guys just kind of laugh, almost: ‘This can’t really be real,'” Medved said. “But it’s really amazing the way these guys have handled it.”

Crocker-Johnson had been playing with the injury before the pain worsened after Minnesota’s upset of then-No. 10 Michigan State on Feb. 4, Medved said. After playing a key role for Medved at Colorado State last season, Crocker-Johnson transferred to Minnesota and has averaged 13.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game.

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Hawkeyes are set to play Vanderbilt in a November women’s basketball game in Sioux City, Iowa

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Vanderbilt and Iowa, both ranked in the top 10 late last season, will meet in a women's basketball game early next season in northwest Iowa, the schools announced Tuesday. The neutral-site game is set for Nov. 15 at the Tyson Events Center, which is 290 miles from Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City. Vanderbilt is 4-0 all-time against the Hawkeyes. This will be the teams' first meeting since 1997. The Commodores are expected to return national scoring leader Mikayla Blakes. She averaged 27 points per game and was Southeastern Conference player of the year. Vanderbilt was ranked as high as No. 5 and finished No. 10 with a 29-5 record after reaching the NCAA Sweet 16.
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