Oregon’s N’Faly Dante center suffered a foot injury in the first minutes of the second half against San Francisco on Thursday night. He never returned to the game after leaving the field under his own power.
Postgame, head coach of Oregon basketball Dana Altman briefly discussed Dante’s injury and condition after the match.
“I’m not sure. I’ll talk to Clay [school trainer] here. He was in the locker room. He didn’t seem to be hurt too badly, “Altman said.
The 6-foot-11 center dived for a weak ball in the key and seemed to have the leg / leg wrapped by his teammate Eugene Omoruyi while they both went for the ball. Dante left the field under his own power, but suffered a lot. He received treatment from Oregon medical staff before finally going to court. Dante returned in the middle of the second half, but never got off the bench except to be right behind the team during the breaks.
Ducks got a good production from N’Faly Dante earlier this season. The 6-meter and 11-meter senior has started all six games for the Ducks and has an average of 17 minutes per game as the Ducks continue to put him in shape for the Pac-12 Conference program in their schedule. After playing just 11 minutes against USF, Dante averaged 8.2 points per game, 5.8 rebounds and blocked seven shots in six games. Dante takes 65.6% from the field and tries 16 free throws and makes seven. Dante also has nine thefts earlier this season.
Oregon will return to action on Saturday afternoon against Portland, and Dante’s status for the game going forward is likely to be questionable. Oregon used before the second year Chandler Lawson instead of Dante on the field in the second half or would be really small with Eugene Omoruyi in the center. Ducks are also waiting to get a four-star signing in 2021 Franck Kepnang eligible to play after enrolling in school this week. Kepnang is a 6-meter center that has been recruited in the Top 50.