Marquette All-Big East guard Tyler Kolek is out for the conferece tournament quarterfinals despite practicing with the team for part of their session on Wednesday.
Golden Eagles head coach Shaka Smart said Kolek is “close” to being full strength and recovered from an oblique strain. Coaches watched him closely in the team workout.
“He’s still day-to-day and not planning on playing tomorrow, but he’s close,” Smart said. “He’s been working out and continues to get treatment. The plan is absolutely for him to play next week, and he’s really made good progress.”
The No. 10 Golden Eagles, the third seed in the Big East tournament, play Thursday night against the winner of the game between Villanova-DePaul. It’s unclear if Kolek would be available for Friday’s semifinal game should Marquette advance.
Kolek, the 2022-23 Big East Player of the Year, missed the final three games of the regular season with the oblique injury. He last played Feb. 28 against Providence.
The 6-foot-3 Kolek is averaging 15.0 points, 7.6 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 28 starts. He’s shooting 40.0 percent (44 of 110) from 3-point range and 88.0 percent from the foul line (73 of 83).
–Field Level Media
