Martin updates AJ Lawson's injury, status

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL

Frank Martin said AJ Lawson rolled his ankle in Tuesday's game against Alabama, but didn't offer much of an update after that.

Martin said he was unsure of the severity of Lawson's ankle injury and the freshman was in the process of figuring how how bad the injury will be.

“I have no idea. I know he rolled his ankle. I know that for a fact," Martin said. "I’m pretty sure they’ve taken him to go do X-rays to make sure structurally everything’s in place.”

Also see: What Martin said in his postgame press conference

Lawson injured his ankle severely in the second half with 8:24 to go in the game and was down on the ground writhing in pain for a while before having to be carried back to the locker room by teammates.

He couldn't put any weight on his ankle and didn't return to the bench.

He left the game when it was tied 49-49 and Alabama went on a 19-13 run with Lawson in the locker room to close out the game. With Lawson unavailable down the stretch, Martin said postgame the team missed one of its better players in crunch time.

Before laving the game, Lawson had nine points and three rebounds.

"What hurts us is I don’t want to say he’s our closer but with the game in the balance late in the game, I’m usually putting the ball in his hands. We didn’t have that. We struggled. Alabama’s length was another problem,” Martin said. “The guys tried. I’m proud of the effort.”

Also see: What could the offensive depth chart look like?

If Lawson isn't able to play, the Gamecocks (14-14, 9-6 SEC) have just seven scholarship players available alongside two walk-ons in Nathan Nelson and Quad Borup.

"It's going to be a challenge coming down the stretch," Martin said. "If AJ can't go, I got to get Nathan Nelson and Quad ready to play. I got to get those two kids ready to get in the game and help us out."

Lawson is averaging 31.2 minutes, 14 points and 4.5 rebounds per game as a freshman while shooting almost 42 percent from the field.

He's been a big part of the Gamecocks' success as one of the team's go to freshmen. Coming into Tuesday's game he was playing almost 79 percent of the team's minutes with 77 percent of those coming at the point guard position.

In SEC play he was playing 82.7 percent of the team's minutes, 11th-most in the conference, and was taking 24.1 percent of the team's shots, the 19th most among players in the league.

Also see: An insider's impression after the second weekend of baseball season

Now the Gamecocks have to regroup and try to finish without Lawson through the remaining three games of the regular season and the SEC Tournament.

His injury is the latest in a long line of major ailments that have faced the Gamecocks this year. Justin Minaya, TJ Moss and Jason Cudd are all out for the year while Alanzo Frink and Maik Kotsar have both missed multiple games with injuries this year.

Frink also rolled his ankle and was limited in what he could do in the game but Martin said he's optimistic the freshman will be available Saturday at Missouri.

"We've been battling the injury bug all year," Hassani Gravett said. "Seems like guys have been dropping left and right. We send prayers up for him and hope the best for him."