Texas Tech dealt huge Chance McMillian blow ahead of Sweet Sixteen clash
Texas Tech has been without star guard Chance McMillian since the Big 12 Tournament’s quarterfinals when he exited with an apparent upper-body injury against Baylor. While the Red Raiders would win that game, he was absent from the following semifinal game against Arizona, and has yet to see the court in the team’s first two NCAA Tournament contests.
On Thursday, ahead of Texas Tech’s Sweet Sixteen game with the Arkansas Razorbacks, CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein provided an update on the Red Raiders star.
The game against the Razorbacks will be McMillian’s fourth consecutive game out for Grant McCasland’s team. He’s the team’s third-leading scorer this season, averaging 14.2 points per game.
McMillian spoke to media members Wednesday before the game and gave some optimistic news on his progress.
“I’m getting better day-by-day,” he said. “Been in the training room, doing a lot of pool workouts and breathing workouts because I strained my oblique pretty bad, but my goal is to play tomorrow.”
The Vallejo, California native would have looked forward to playing in the Chase Center in San Francisco, and said that he was a fan of the Golden State Warriors, who play their home games at the arena.
The Red Raiders and the Razorbacks will face off for a spot in the Elite Eight against No. 1 seed Florida on TBS/truTV. The game will tip off at 10:20 p.m. ET/7:20 p.m. PT.
Will Chance McMillian play in Sweet 16? Latest injury update on Texas Tech guard
With the Texas Tech basketball team one day away from appearing in the Sweet 16 against No. 10 seed Arkansas, members of the team and head coach Grant McCasland met with the media on Wednesday. Of course, it didn’t take long for the issue of starting guard Chance McMillian’s injury to come up.
Fortunately, according to both the player and his coach, it appears he is closer to being able to play against the Razorbacks.
“I’m getting better day-by-day,” McMillian said. “Been in the training room, doing a lot of pool workouts and breathing workouts because I strained my oblique pretty bad. But my goal is to play tomorrow.”
McMillian has not played since appearing in the first half of Texas Tech’s quarterfinal victory over Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament on March 13. It was an injury that he sustained toward the end of the regular season, and he aggravated it against Baylor, forcing him to miss the second half of that 76-74 win.
Since then, McMillian has been sidelined, forcing freshman guard Christian Anderson to step into the starting lineup. While Anderson has been serviceable in that role, he hasn’t been as good as McMillian has been, especially when McMillian has been healthy.
With the Texas Tech basketball team one day away from appearing in the Sweet 16 against No. 10 seed Arkansas, members of the team and head coach Grant McCasland met with the media on Wednesday. Of course, it didn’t take long for the issue of starting guard Chance McMillian’s injury to come up.
Fortunately, according to both the player and his coach, it appears he is closer to being able to play against the Razorbacks.
“I’m getting better day-by-day,” McMillian said. “Been in the training room, doing a lot of pool workouts and breathing workouts because I strained my oblique pretty bad. But my goal is to play tomorrow.”
McMillian has not played since appearing in the first half of Texas Tech’s quarterfinal victory over Baylor in the Big 12 Tournament on March 13. It was an injury that he sustained toward the end of the regular season, and he aggravated it against Baylor, forcing him to miss the second half of that 76-74 win.
Since then, McMillian has been sidelined, forcing freshman guard Christian Anderson to step into the starting lineup. While Anderson has been serviceable in that role, he hasn’t been as good as McMillian has been, especially when McMillian has been healthy.
