Michigan State guard Kyle Ahrens sustained a lower leg injury on Sunday in the first half of the Big Ten Tournament championship game against Michigan.
With 4:34 remaining in the first half, the junior guard came down awkwardly in the fight for a loose ball and his ankle appeared to turn the wrong direction. As soon as he hit the floor, Ahrens began screaming in pain and clutching his left ankle. A trainer and his teammates rushed to his side before he was eventually stretchered off the court with his leg in an air cast.
Watching these Michigan State kids cry alongside their injured teammate is making me cry. Wow. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/Ga8ek4t6uD
— Vic Lombardi (@VicLombardi) March 17, 2019
#MichiganState F Kyle Ahrens leaving the court. pic.twitter.com/Dw9tNnnofe
— Rico Beard (@RicoBeard) March 17, 2019
Tom Izzo consoles Kyle Ahrens. pic.twitter.com/KgGKoH7QaQ
— Mike Mulholland (@mulho2mj) March 17, 2019
Very somber scene here as Ahrens goes down with what appears to be a rather serious injury to his left foot or ankle. #MSU fans/players coming together supporting Ahrens. pic.twitter.com/5jmNjubDTu
— Seth Wells (@SethWILXSports) March 17, 2019
Early indications are that Ahrens may have avoided a serious injury. Per Graham Couch, MSU reports that X-rays for a fracture came back negative.
"It's part of the sport," Tom Izzo said at halftime in an interview with Tracy Wolfson. "I feel sorry for Kyle, but that's not why we did what we did [fall behind by eight at half]. We just got Xavier [Tillman] on the bench, and they had a small lineup, we couldn't play Nick. Xavier on the bench really hurt us."
Ahrens was expected to be limited Sunday because of a back injury he sustained on Saturday in the Big Ten semifinals.
