Michigan State Basketball: Matt McQuaid latest Spartan bit by injury bug

When it rains, it pours for Michigan State basketball as senior captain Matt McQuaid sprained his ankle at practice and is ‘probable’ for Saturday.

When will it end? It seems as if the basketball gods have cursed Michigan State’s 2018-19 title run as the injury bug has bitten this team hard.

First it was Josh Langford who went down and it was perceived to be a week-to-week injury, but it turned out to be a fracture in his foot and he was ruled out for the year. Then it was Nick Ward who hurt his hand against Ohio State which was later diagnosed as a hairline fracture and the timeline for his return is unclear.

Kenny Goins even missed most of a game due to an elbow injury, but luckily it wasn’t too serious and returned the next time out.

On top of that, Kyle Ahrens has been playing through a bad back which Tom Izzo said means that he’s “always going to be day-to-day.”

It doesn’t stop there, though, as senior captain Matt McQuaid sprained his ankle at practice this week and is officially listed as ‘probable’ for Saturday afternoon’s showdown against Indiana in Bloomington.

Obviously this is the worst news the team could have hoped for already under-manned heading into a rematch with the team that upset them at home in front of a national audience for College GameDay.

Luckily, this isn’t an another injury to an already-thinned post, but McQuaid is the team’s top defender and has been one of the most consistent 3-point shooters this season. In fact, he’s shooting a career-high 44 percent from long-range and averaging 9.0 points per game.

If he’s out, or limited, look for Aaron Henry to play more minutes and Ahrens to be inserted back into the starting lineup. Also, this could mean Gabe Brown has to play 10-15 minutes, too.