Buffs basketball report
Current record: 9-6, 2-1 Pac-12.
Last game: 74-49 loss at Utah on Wednesday.
Next game: Thursday at No. 7 Arizona (13-1, 1-0), 7 p.m. MST, ESPN/ESPN2.
Buff bits: CU is 0-4 in true road games this season. … The Buffs have lost 39 consecutive road games against Top-10 teams, dating to 1973. … Overall, the Buffs are 5-11 against Top-10 teams in coach Tad Boyle’s five seasons.
The Colorado men’s basketball team isn’t sure how long Xavier Johnson will be out with an ankle injury.
On Thursday morning, however, athletic trainer Rawley Klingsmith was somewhat encouraged.
Johnson suffered a high sprain to his right ankle early in Wednesday’s 74-49 loss at Utah. It was an unusual injury, as he hurt the ankle going up for a layup. Most sprains will happen when a player is coming down and hits the floor.
“The good thing is there wasn’t a lot of swelling, compared to a normal (high-ankle sprain),” Klingsmith said just before the Buffs boarded an airplane in Salt Lake City. “We’ll get a better feel for it when we get back (to Boulder) and get some imaging done.”
Klingsmith said the typical high-ankle sprain takes a couple of weeks to heal, but with Johnson’s injury, “There’s not a lot of swelling, so I’m optimistic it’ll be shorter.”
On Thursday, Johnson walked through Denver International Airport with a significant limp, but did not have any type of walking boot or crutches.
The Buffs don’t play again until Thursday at Arizona, so Johnson has time to heal.
“It’s a week where we need to get better individually and we need to get better as a group and we need to get healthy,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said.
Johnson is third on the team in scoring (12.8 points per game) and rebounding (5.4 per game).
