Rutgers basketball center Emmanuel Ogbole out with knee injury; Dylan Harper ankle update
PISCATAWAY — Rutgers basketball’s quest to upset eighth-ranked Michigan State Saturday and jump-start a last-ditch push into the NCAA Tournament picture just got harder.
Junior center Emmanuel Ogbole will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a meniscus injury during Monday’s loss at Penn State, head coach Steve Pikiell informed the team at the end of Friday’s practice.
The 6-foot-10, 270-pound Ogbole averages 3.5 points and 4.4 rebounds per game and was starting to hit stride as a defender and rebounder. In last week’s win at Nebraska he grabbed 11 boards in 24 minutes. Against Penn State he tallied seven rebounds and two blocked shots in 17 minutes.
This is not Ogbole’s first knee injury. He suffered an ACL tear while playing junior college ball in 2023 and as a result didn’t debut for Rutgers until midway through last season.
His absence means 6-foot-9 freshman forward Bryce Dortch, who has been practicing but hasn’t checked into a game yet this season, will see his first game action Saturday. And it means even more will be needed from freshmen big men Lathan Sommerville (7.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg) and Dylan Grant (5.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg). Rutgers (10-9 overall, 3-5 Big Ten) has rebounded better of late after getting hammered on the glass throughout the first half of the season.
Michigan State (16-2, 7-0) ranks seventh in the country in rebounding margin at plus-9.
Dylan Harper injury update
The injury bug has hit Rutgers hard this season. Postgrad guard Tyson Acuff missed the entire summer and preseason with a broken foot, then star point guard Dylan Harper was hampered by a bad strain of the flu. Harper was rounding back into form before suffering an ankle sprain at Penn State.
The good news: Harper was a full practice participant Friday without any sign of an ankle problem. He looked like his old self.
Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. Contact him at jcarino@gannettnj.com.
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