By Mark Bennett
Indiana State will begin its final 16-game
Missouri Valley Conference basketball run with senior guard Kelyn
Block recovering from knee surgery.
Block is expected to undergo surgery today
at Indianapolis to repair muscle tissue around his right knee.
He's expected to be sidelined at least three weeks.
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Kansas City native
first injured his knee in a colision during Indiana State's Dec.
19 loss at Wyoming. Block missed some practices after that game
but returned to play in last Saturday's loss to Bowling Green.
However, the bruise was reaggravated during
another collision with an opposing player in the Bowling Green
game and again in practice this week.
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Block was held out of practice Thursday and
made a trip to Indianapolis for further examinations by the team
doctors. A magnetic resonance imaging test showed significant
swelling and some damage to muscle tissue surrounding his knee,
said ISU head athletic trainer Dave Ralston.
"It started as a bruise," said ISU
Sports Information Director Kent Johnson, "and then the
muscle tore away from the kneecap, so they're going to have to
go in and repair the muscle to the patella [the tendon that stretches
over the kneecap]."
Block currently leads the Sycamores in scoring
and assists with 11.8 points and 3.0 assists per game. He is
also averaging 4.9 rebounds per game.
Block hasn't missed a start since the 1999-2000
season.
Indiana State enters Saturday's game with
Evansville with records of 2-9 overall and 0-2 in the MVC, while
the Aces are 3-9 and 0-2 in league play.
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