Utah basketball: Jordan Loveridge will miss time after knee surgery

Amid one of Utah's best moments of the year, there was a painful announcement.

Jordan Loveridge will be out until at least the start of conference play after undergoing knee surgery this week. Called a game-time decision leading into Utah's eventual 69-68 win in overtime on Wednesday, Loveridge was actually never up for playing Wichita State.

Initially what was termed "knee discomfort" last week was actually debris under Loveridge's kneecap that has been causing him chronic pain, possibly for a long time before it was discovered.

"Cleaned up some loose bodies floating around in that knee," Krystkowiak said. "He's going to get that thing strong. It wasn't really invasive."

Loveridge is a tough absence from the team, averaging 11.5 points per game and shooting 50 percent from 3-point range. Loveridge was Utah's second-leading scorer and leading rebounder last season, and is considered one of the premier leaders within the program, a captain and one of Krystkowiak's first big recruits.

While Utah hopes to have him back healthy this season, junior Dakarai Tucker filled in admirably in 34 minutes, scoring 13 points and adding 4 rebounds.

Tucker spent the first few games out on the bench himself laid up with injury.

"It's made me more hungry after that," he said. "That's the worst feeling being out for that long."

Kenneth Ogbe started in Loveridge's place but played only 10 minutes.

Kyle Goon
kgoon@sltrib.com
Twitter: @kylegoon