The University of Vermont court at Patrick Gym now bears the name of former head coach Tom Brennan. And to celebrate, the Catamounts racked up a 81-57 win over Siena Monday night, Dec. 11, 2017. RYAN MERCER/FREE PRESS
Sophomore star Anthony Lamb could miss the rest of the season with a broken foot.
Lamb, the leading scorer and rebounder for the University of Vermont men's basketball team, sustained a foot injury during Thursday's practice and is out indefinitely, the school's athletic department said in an email to local media Saturday afternoon.
In a follow-up phone interview with the Burlington Free Press, UVM coach John Becker said Lamb, last year's America East rookie of the year, suffered a fracture in his left foot and is likely sidelined for approximate eight weeks.
That timetable would put Lamb's potential return around the start of conference playoffs in early March. However, Becker said it was too early to make any such projections based on Lamb's injury and recovery process.
"We are going to take it slow and make sure he's good to go long term," Becker said. "We are going to be very cautious with him."
Becker said Lamb suffered the injury when the 6-foot-6, 227-pound forward came down hard and rolled over on his foot during a drill.
A preseason league first-team selection, Lamb is averaging team-highs of 16.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.0 blocks a game. He's also made 85 percent (58 of 66) of his free-throw attempts this season.
"He's a great player and this changes things pretty drastically for us," Becker said. "He obviously did a lot on the offensive end and he was our best post defender."
The Catamounts (8-5), who resume action at Harvard on Tuesday, were the coaches' unanimous preseason pick to win their conference again. And Becker says those championship aspirations remain despite the big loss of Lamb.
"We still have a lot of talent and we still have high expectations for this season," Becker said. "This is going to be a huge challenge and I feel like all the guys are up for it."
While forward Payton Henson's return from his hip injury — the senior transfer missed the Quinnipiac contest — lessens the blow of Saturday's news, Becker said "all options are on the table" as the coaching staff reassesses the program's approach over the next 24-48 hours.
"We are doing a complete revaluation and a complete reboot to a degree as far as figuring out how we want to attack the rest of the year and be successful in our league," Becker said. "We took a big piece of the puzzle out and now we have to look at putting the puzzle together again and seeing who gives us the best chance to win."
Freshman Bailey Patella, whose redshirt status was already under consideration to be lifted when Skyler Nash suffered a season-ending knee injury earlier this month, is trending toward playing. Forward Ra Kpedi, another freshman pegged to redshirt, might get a chance to play too, Becker said.
Senior Drew Urquhart will take Lamb's place in the starting lineup and Samuel Dinbga and Nate Rohrer will see their roles expand.
"We need as many bodies as we can get right now, but this is a great opportunity for some of the guys," Becker said.
Contact Alex Abrami at 660-1848 or aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @aabrami5.