Nick Ward says he gave it an honest effort when he checked back into Sunday’s game against Ohio State less than a minute into the second half. Michigan State’s junior forward would play fewer than four minutes in the period, quickly reaching the conclusion he couldn’t play through the left-hand injury he suffered late in the first half.

Ward soon learned he had a hairline fracture in his shooting hand, and he underwent surgery to repair it later that night.

The injury leaves MSU’s second-leading scorer on the sideline indefinitely. Ward said after Monday’s practice that he has no expectation of when he’ll return, “just whenever it heals.”

“It means everything to be with my teammates on the court,” Ward said. “That’s one of our rival teams that we played yesterday. For me not to try to play the second half, you know there’s something really wrong, because you know I get up for Ohio State any time we play them. I’ll be back though.”

Asked about the exact moment he felt something was wrong, Ward said: “It was a number of things. I caught my hand on the rim, that didn’t help. And I hit it on somebody’s elbow. That’s what hurt it.”

After that, Ward said one of his fingers kept popping out of place, and that trying to play through it was more annoying than painful.

His arm in a sling, Ward joined junior guard Joshua Langford and his scooter on the sideline for Monday’s practice.

“We both have positive mindsets,” Ward said of his conversations with Langford, who is recovering from a season-ending foot injury, “and that’s how you’ve gotta stay throughout the whole process.”

Ward said he had treatment options other than immediate surgery, “but surgery was the best one.”

"A little disappointed, but I’ll be fine," Ward said. "(I’m a) quick healer, so I’ll be back."

The good news for Ward is he can maintain his physical conditioning while he’s away from basketball-related activities.

“Running, lifting, all that type of stuff,” he said.

“You never know, I might come back with a six-pack or something. I might be right-handed now, six-pack, come back new and improved.”

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