Ahead of Saturday’s neutral site matchup with Kansas State, the Colorado State men’s basketball team was dealt a huge blow when it was announced that senior guard and leading scorer Gian Clavell will miss the rest of the 2015-16 season with a broken bone in his non-shooting hand. The injury occurred Thursday in practice, and Clavell is the second player CSU has lost for the season after Fred Richardson III “lost his desire to play,” according to head coach Larry Eustachy.

Clavell, a native of Puerto Rico, ranked 23rd nationally, averaging 20.8 points per game for the Rams (6-4), who have lost four of their last five games after starting the season 5-0. He led the team with 27 made 3-pointers, was 11th in the NCAA in minutes played per game (36.9) and was the team’s second-leading rebounder, pulling down 6.9 boards per game.

According to a release from the CSU athletic department, Clavell may be eligible for a medical redshirt if he chooses to pursue it, but that process won’t start until later in the season.

Freshman guard Prentiss Nixon will likely see a big uptick in minutes with the loss of Clavell, and Anthony Bonner, a freshman from Lawrence, Kansas, who was previously expected to redshirt, may see some minutes as well.


Collegian Senior Sports Reporter Keegan Pope can be reached at kpope@collegian.com and on Twitter @ByKeeganPope.