Juwan Gary ruled out for Nebraska's game at No. 3 Purdue
As if traveling to take on third-ranked Purdue wasn’t a daunting enough challenge for Nebraska, the Huskers will be without starting forward Juwan Gary on Friday night.
The junior suffered a shoulder injury late in the first half of Tuesday night’s loss to Illinois and did not return for the rest of the game. Head coach Fred Hoiberg said Thursday that Gary was still experiencing “significant swelling” and pain in his shoulder and would be out against the Boilermakers.
His availability beyond that is to be determined, as Hoiberg said Gary was day-to-day going forward.
“We’re going to take it slow with him,” Hoiberg said. “He’s got pretty good swelling; he’s got a lot of pain in that shoulder. So he will not play tomorrow.”
Breidenbach or Dawson will get the start at Purdue
Gary has started all 17 games for Nebraska this season. His absence leaves the Huskers with a decision on who will replace him in the starting line.
Hoiberg said he was still debating between going with Wilhelm Breidenbach or Denim Dawson on Friday night.
Breidenbach has played in every game and averaged 13.1 minutes this season off the bench. However, it was the freshman Dawson who started the second half against Illinois after Gary went out.
“We’ll go through it again in the morning in our shoot-around time and make a decision from there,” Hoiberg said. “It’s just a matter if I want to continue to Wilhelm. He’s been comfortable in that role coming off the bench and playing both frontcourt spots.
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“Denim gives you a guy that can really defend at a high level out there and has a lot of intangibles. It’s just two completely different types of players with different skill sets. But both of those guys will be on the floor a lot tomorrow.”
Gary’s energy will be missed most of all
Nebraska must find some way to replicate Gary’s production at Purdue. He currently is tied for third on the team with 9.5 points per game, ranks second with 6.5 rebounds, is tied for first with nine blocks, and leads NU with 24 steals.
But what the Huskers will likely miss most of all in his absence is Gary’s endless energy on the floor and the bench.
Hoiberg said there wasn’t one player who could replicate those intangibles that Gary brought. Instead, it would have to be a collective effort in one of the most difficult road venues in college basketball.
“I’ll say this, we do have guys that are going to go out and compete,” Hoiberg said. “But Juwan, he gives you so many different things with the versatility. One guy is not going to make up for what we’ll miss without Juwan. We’re going to have to do it by committee. It is what it is. It’s a next-man-up mentality.
“We don’t know exactly how many games (Gary) will miss; we just know he will know he will not play tomorrow. So everybody’s got to be ready to step up.”
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