The Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) diagnostic machine revealed that Illinois State senior guard Shawn Jeppson suffered a moderate Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) sprain in his right knee Tuesday night in the Redbirds 87-73 loss at No. 7 Illinois.
At the 8:52 mark in the first half, the Spring Valley, Ill., native was fouled by Illinois Robert Archibald while driving for a lay up. Jeppson sank the two foul shots, but left the game afterwards and never returned.
Jeppson is listed as day-to-day and head coach Tom Richardson was relieved to hear the news after losing Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year Tarise Bryson to a season-ending injury a month ago.
We are obviously pleased that the injury wasnt severe as it could have been, Richardson said. We couldnt afford another devastating injury to the team right now. We just have to get Shawn back as fast as we can.
Jeppson only played eight minutes in the game at Illinois, but scored five points including a big 3-pointer that ended a 7-0 Illini run.
Ranked fourth on the team in scoring, Jeppson is averaging 10.2 points per game on the season. He has played in all 10 games and is averaging 25.7 minutes per contest.
