Florida loses starting center to a season-ending knee injury

An elite Florida defense will need to find someone else to shut down the paint.

The Gators announced Wednesday that they’ve lost starting center John Egbunu for the rest of the season to a torn ACL suffered during a victory over Auburn the previous night.

“We’re all disappointed for John,” Florida coach Mike White said in a statement released by the school. “He’s been playing really well of late, so it’s a tough blow to him and our team. He’s a great young man, and unfortunately injuries are a part of basketball. He’ll be back even stronger.”

The loss of Egbunu deprives Florida of an athletic 6-foot-11 big man who impacted games by altering shots, attacking the glass and finishing at the rim. Egbunu averaged 7.8 points and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game and delivered double-digit rebound games against some of the Gators’ best opponents including Duke, Seton Hall and Texas A&M.

Florida (21-5, 11-2) had been playing as well as any team in the SEC prior to Egbunu’s injury. The Gators have reeled off seven straight victories including an 88-66 shellacking of Kentucky to move into a first-place tie with the Wildcats (21-5, 11-2).

One option for Florida without Egbunu will be to play smaller with high-scoring 6-foot-6 senior Canyon Barry either entering the starting lineup or carving out additional playing time off the bench. Another option for the Gators would be to give the bulk of Egbunu’s minutes to rapidly improving sophomore Kevarrius Hayes, who has made the most of limited playing time this season.

The 6-foot-9 Hayes averages 6.2 points and 3.8 rebounds and shoots 63.6 percent from the field. Seventeen of his team-high 41 blocks have come during the Gators’ current seven-game winning streak.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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