Jon Leuer breaks a bone in his wrist, out indefinitely

We're a little late on this, but we figured it was an important enough news story that it deserved its own post.

For the second time this season, Wisconsin knocked off a top ten team at the Kohl Center. Jordan Taylor scored 23 points, Jason Bohannon added 20 points, and Trevon Hughes made a number of big shots as the Badgers pulled away in the second half.

One notable name you don't see there?

Jon Leuer.

Jon Leuer fractured a bone in his wrist in Saturday's game against Purdue.
(photo credit: B/R)

Leuer has arguably been Wisconsin's most valuable player in the first half of the season, but he had by far his worst game of the season, scoring just 4 points on 2-15 shooting in 38 minutes.

Well, now we know why.

Leuer fractured a bone in his left wrist and will be undergoing surgery tomorrow. No timetable has been set for his return. It is believed that the injury was suffered early in the first half when Leuer hit the floor hard going after an offensive rebound, using his left arm to break his fall.

Leuer was one of the most improved players in the Big Ten. This season, he is the Badgers second leading scorer (15.4 ppg, and was the leading scorer before the Purdue game), leading rebounder (6.8 rpg), and best shot blocker (1.8 bpg), Wisconsin.

But perhaps more importantly, he is by far the Badger's best big man. He is the only player over 6'8" that plays significant minutes, and has developed a pretty good game in the post. His most effective weapon offensively is his ability to play on the perimeter. Leuer is, essentially, the center for the Badgers, as he routinely guards the biggest player on an opposing team. But Leuer is one of those kids that hit his growth spurt late, meaning he played guard growing up. He still has the handle and the jump shot, making him a matchup problem on the offensive end.

Without Leuer in the line-up, Bo Ryan is going to have a choice to make. If he wants to go big, his options are two seldom-used freshman - 6'10" Jared Berggren and 6'7" Mike Bruesewitz. While I expect those two to see a boost in minutes, I'd also expect Ryan to use Ryan Evans and Tim Jarmusz at the same time as Keaton Nankivil quite a bit.

Whatever he decides to do, the one thing that is clear is that Wisconsin, which has climbed into the top 15 or 20 teams in the country, will have a tough stretch coming up.

The good news?

With the win over Purdue in addition to wins against Duke, Arizona, Maryland, and Marquette, the Badgers should be a tournament team assuming they can get Leuer healthy by the end of the Big Ten.

Not sure if there is any similarity between the injuries, but Mason Plumlee of Duke was out for less than four weeks after breaking his wrist in November. That said, Plumlee's injury didn't require surgery.