Basketball

Palo to miss 6-8 weeks with broken wrist

By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com Publisher

AMES – A week ago today, Iowa State sent out a press release that let the world know about sophomore Bubu Palo being put on scholarship. Before the Cyclones began practice on Thursday afternoon, head coach Fred Hoiberg announced that Palo had suffered a broken wrist and would miss the next six to eight weeks of the season.

"It’s a very tough blow for us," said Hoiberg. "Bubu is our rock. When things aren’t going well, you put him in the game and he calms things down. Defensively, he is always in the right spot."

Two days ago, an x-ray of Palo’s wrist came back negative. Yesterday, the Ames native had an MRI taken that showed more.

"That was a tough message to wake up with this morning," said Hoiberg. "Tough for Bubu, especially with how well he was playing."

In 14 games this season, Palo has averaged 4.7 points per game along with 1.6 rebounds. He’s also third on the team in assists with 29.

Who’s next for the Cyclones?

"Tavon (Sledge) is going to have to keep himself ready," said Hoiberg. "We may play with some bigger lineups. Melvin (Ejim) may have to slide to the three at times. We’ll see what happens but we’ll experiment with some things over the next couple of days."

@cyclonefanatic