Oregon guard Jesse Zarzuela to miss remainder of regular season
The first season for Jesse Zarzuela at Oregon has come to an unfortunate end.
Dana Altman spoke with the media on Thursday ahead of the Ducks’ matchup with Kent State later on tonight. Amidst his updates, he shared the news that, after an ankle injury, Zarzuela is set to get surgery and will miss the remainder of the season.
“Jesse is going to have surgery. He’s done,” said Altman.
Zarzuela was in his fifth season of college basketball with each of the previous four coming at various stops. He spent his freshman and redshirt freshman seasons at the JUCO level at Navarro and Missouri State West Plains. Then, in his third season as a redshirt sophomore, he went to Coppin State. That was all before he landed at Central Michigan last season.
Over his two seasons with the Eagles and Chippewas, Zarzuela averaged 15.5 points, three rebounds, three assists, and 1.2 steals in 37 appearances, including 25 starts.
Upon his reentry in the transfer portal, Altman and Oregon were able to earn the commitment of the senior guard out of Houston.
In his five appearances, all of which were starts, with the Ducks this season, Zarzuela averaged 10 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.2 assists in almost 28 minutes per game. He hadn’t appeared in the lineup since the end of last month during a loss to Alabama in the Emerald Coast Classic.
This is just the latest blow on the injury front to the program at Oregon. N’Faly Dante, who underwent knee surgery, and Mookie Cook, who has yet to debut due to an ankle issue, are both already set to be out of the lineup until the start of the new year. Nate Bittle will also be reevaluated in eight weeks after wrist surgery. Keeshawn Barthelemy missed the team’s previous game as well with an ankle injury.
The injury bug has swarmed into Matthew Knight Arena with names piling up on the Ducks injury report. Zarzuela is the first full-on loss, though, with his injury taking him off the table for good this year.
How to watch: Oregon vs. Kent State
In their final non-conference matchup of the season, Oregon (7-3) will look to capture some momentum against Kent State (7-3) on Thursday.
The Ducks are coming off an ugly neutral-site loss to Syracuse during which they had just seven scholarship players available. The Orange trounced Oregon, 83-63, while capitalizing on some sloppy turnovers.
Meanwhile, the Golden Flashes are riding a three-game winning streak. In their last contest, they notched an 83-77 win over Cleveland State.
When: Tuesday, Dec. 21 at 6 p.m. PT
Where: Matthew Knight Arena (Eugene, Oregon)
TV: Pac-12 Network
Radio: SiriusXM Channel 197 (Portland); 1080 AM, 95.3 FM (Eugene); TuneIn.com/Ducks (online)