UConn guard Paige Bueckers underwent surgery on her left knee and is out for at least eight weeks.
Bueckers was injured on Dec. 5 and required surgery to repair an anterior tibial plateau fracture and lateral meniscus tear. UConn said her likely return date is “early February,” using Monday’s surgery date as the starting point in her recovery.
UConn’s current No. 7 national ranking is the lowest for the Huskies since 2007, but the team is 1-1 without their star sophomore.
Bueckers is the team’s leader in points, assists and rebounds. She was hurt with a minute to go in a 73-54 win over Notre Dame.
Huskies coach Geno Auriemma denied he was having second thoughts or regrets about Bueckers being in the game late against Notre Dame when she was injured.
“No, that’s like saying an NFL guy’s worried about, you know, they’re up two touchdowns, the starting quarterback is always taking the knee, right? I mean, you just play. You don’t think about these things,” he said.
Bueckers collapsed under her own weight on a jab step with less than 40 seconds to go against the Fighting Irish. She had played the entire game to that point.
–Field Level Media
