Oregon sophomore starting center N’Faly Dante suffered a foot injury in the early minutes of the second half against San Francisco Thursday night. He never returned to the game after leaving the court under his own power.
Postgame, Oregon head basketball coach Dana Altman briefly discussed Dante’s injury and status following the game.
“I’m not sure. I’ll talk to Clay [school trainer] here. He was in the locker room. Didn’t seem to be hurt too bad,” said Altman.
The 6-foot-11 center dove for a loose ball in the key and seemed to have his lower leg/foot rolled up on by fellow teammate Eugene Omoruyi as they were both going after the ball. Dante walked off the court under his own power but was in serious pain. He received some treatment from Oregon’s medical staff before eventually leaving to the court. Dante returned midway through the second half but never got off the bench other than to stand just behind the team during timeouts.
The Ducks have gotten good production out of N’Faly Dante early on this season. The 6-foot-11 senior has started all six games for the Ducks and is averaging 17 minutes per game, as the Ducks continue to get him into shape for the Pac-12 Conference slate of their schedule. After playing just 11 minutes against USF, Dante is averaging 8.2 points per game, 5.8 rebounds, and has blocked seven shots in six games. Dante is shooting 65.6 percent from the field and has attempted 16 free throws and made seven. Dante also has nine steals early on this season.
Oregon will be back in action on Saturday afternoon against Portland, and Dante’s status for the game moving forward is likely going to be questionable. Oregon used sophomore forward Chandler Lawson in place of Dante on the court in the second half or would be really small with Eugene Omoruyi at center. The Ducks are also waiting on getting 2021 four-star signee Franck Kepnang eligible to play after he enrolled into school this week. Kepnang is a 6-foot-11 center who was a Top 50 recruit.
