Don Drysdale
On Friday night, No. 2 seed Michigan State defeated No. 3 LSU 80-63 to advance to the Elite 8.
Unfortunately, they got a scare involving forward Nick Ward in the process.
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Ward injured his left hand during the second half when he went up for a rebound and then came down hard after being bumped by Naz Reid of LSU. Reid was charged with a Flagrant-1 foul on the play.
According to reports, an X-ray of Ward’s hand has come back negative and the injury has been called a bone bruise. CBS reported during the game that Ward could have re-entered if he was needed.
Ward said his hand hurts and he does NOT think he could have gone back in the game. Tom Izzo said Ward’s availability for Sunday is unclear.
Nick Ward said his left hand hurts and had a huge ice bag on it in the locker room, but X-rays were negative. Didn’t think he could go back in, and Tom Izzo said the junior forward’s availability for Sunday is unclear at the moment.
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) March 30, 2019
Ward suffered a hairline fracture in the same hand earlier in the year and he was forced to miss five games.
The Spartans will play the winner of No. 1 Duke and No. 4 Virginia Tech on Sunday for a trip to the Final 4 on the line.
