X-rays on sophomore guard Chase Tapley’s ankle and junior forward Tim Shelton’s foot revealed no bone breaks, San Diego State men’s basketball head coach Steve Fisher said today.
The two, who were both injured early in the first half of Saturday night’s game against TCU, had X-rays taken this morning. Fisher said neither injury appears to be a long-term issue.
Tapley’s ankle sprain is not the dreaded high ankle sprain variety, while Shelton will have an MRI on Monday to determine if there’s any ligament damage in the foot.
Both are questionable for Tuesday night’s game against Utah.
“You deal with it,” Fisher said. “You say ‘OK.’ It means if Chase can’t go, Rahon steps in the starting lineup and that means Jamaal (Franklin) is going to have to come off the bench to spell; that means Kawhi (Leonard) is going to have to play some point if we want to spell D.J. (Gay); that means (Brian) Carlwell is going to have to play a little more; that means we’re going to have to get something from Mehdi (Cheriet); that means the depth that we talked about having all year will be tested.”
Tapley injured his left ankle about five minutes into the first half on Saturday night when he went up for a layup and turned his ankle. He headed to the locker room immediately after. Fisher said his ankle “swelled up like an orange.”
Shelton, meanwhile, hurt his right foot a few minutes later trying to chase down a rebound. Both returned to the bench in the second half wearing protective boots.
Fisher said he wouldn’t know the full extent of Shelton’s injury until he sees the MRI results. He said Tapley was “better than the doctor thought he would be” today.
Fisher stressed that he would take both injuries with a day-to-day mentality.
“The worst thing I could do would be to rush Chase back too quickly and have him be gimping around for a month,” Fisher said. “So we want to make sure we’re doing the right thing.”
—Follow Sports Editor Edward Lewis (@edwardflewis) on Twitter for up-to-the-second news on the San Diego State men’s basketball team.
