The Maryland men’s basketball team’s frontcourt became even thinner Wednesday, as the team announced center Michal Cekovsky suffered a left heel injury at practice and did not travel to Purdue for Wednesday’s matchup with the No. 3 Boilermakers.
Maryland has already lost two forwards Justin Jackson (labrum) and Ivan Bender (knee) for the season. Cekovsky will visit a surgeon and undergo a CAT scan tomorrow, according to coach Mark Turgeon.
Last season, Cekovsky fractured his left ankle in mid-February and missed the rest of the season. At a press conference before practice Tuesday, Turgeon expressed his pleasure at Cekovsky’s clean bill of health to that point.
“It’s great that he’s been healthy because he hasn’t been for three years,” Turgeon said. “Every day goes by I look at our staff and say, ‘Man, it’s great Ceko’s still out here helping us.'”
Cekovsky’s struggled with injuries throughout his career but had played in all but one of the team’s first 23 games, earning 18 starts. He was averaging 7.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game.
The injury made Maryland’s game against the Boilermakers an uphill climb, as 7-foot-2 center Isaac Haas scored 20 points in Purdue’s 75-67 win.
Cekovsky’s absence leaves Maryland with just eight scholarship players and three in the frontcourt.
