Oregon guard Brennan Rigsby returns to practice, is questionable to play Thursday
As the Oregon men’s basketball program gears up for its final two games of the regular season, it sounds as though the Ducks could see one of their reserve guards make a healthy return.
Following Tuesday’s practice in Eugene, head coach Dana Altman met with reporters and previewed Oregon’s final two games of the regular season. The Ducks (16-13, 10-8 Pac-12), will host Cal (3-26, 2-16) Thursday at 8 p.m. PT in their penultimate matchup of the regular season.
Then, they will close out the year against Stanford at Matthew Knight Arena, with tip-off set for 1 p.m. PT.
According to Altman, the Ducks could get a healthy return from sophomore guard Brennan Rigsby. He missed Saturday’s win at Oregon State with a sprained ankle.
“He went a little bit today, and then he left. I didn’t get a chance to ask him if he pulled himself off, or if (athletic trainer Clay Jamieson) took him off,” Altman said. “But he did practice some today. So he’s close. Whether he’s ready to go Thursday night, I’m not sure. But he didn’t practice until today.”
Altman said that Rigsby got some shooting work in on Tuesday and went through live scenarios, but said he will need to talk with Jemieson to find out Rigsby’s status for Thursday.
In 21 games this season, including eight starts, Rigsby is averaging 4.2 points per game on 40 percent shooting. He was an integral part of the Ducks’ rotation early in conference play but has seen his playing time dip since Jermaine Couisnard and Keeshawn Barthelemy each returned from their respective injuries.
Rigsby has not played more than 20 minutes in a game since Oregon’s Jan. 12 loss to Arizona State in Eugene.
If Rigsby is indeed able to go, it would likely mean that all of Oregon’s scholarship players will be healthy and available, with the exception of redshirt freshman Ethan Butler, who has played in just two games this season while battling injuries.
The Ducks’ starting point guard, Will Richardson, has also been limited in practice this week but is expected to be good to go for the Cal game. Richardson battled through a hip injury over the weekend and played 31 minutes against the Beavers.
Oregon is still battling for a possible first-round bye in next week’s Pac-12 tournament in Las Vegas. The Ducks currently sit in fifth place in the conference standings and will need to beat both Cal in Stanford in order to have a chance to leapfrog fourth-place UCLA.
