Arkansas starting forward and leading scorer Adou Thiero will not play in the team’s NCAA Tournament first-round game against Kansas on Thursday, coach John Calipari announced.
Thiero has been out since Feb. 22 with a knee injury. Thiero is leading the Razorbacks with 15.6 points and 6.0 rebounds in 26 starts this season.
The Razorbacks (20-13) are the 10th seed in the West Region and set to play the No. 7 Jayhawks (21-12) in Providence, R.I. Arkansas is set to get back freshman point guard Boogie Fland, who has been sidelined since Jan. 18 with a right thumb injury.
“Don’t tell anybody, but I only need five. That’s all,” Calipari said Wednesday on the “The Pat McAfee Show.”
“So what’ll happen is, if a couple of guys aren’t playing well, they’ll just play less.”
Trevon Brazile has replaced Thiero in the starting lineup and is averaging 10.3 points and 9.8 rebounds in that role. Brazile is averaging 6.5 points and 5.1 rebounds overall in 31 games (10 starts).
–Field Level Media
