Houston basketball star Jamal Shead suffered an ankle injury in the first half of the team’s Sweet 16 matchup with Duke.
To make matters worse, the Blue Devils defeated Houston, 54-51, advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time under second-year head coach Jon Scheyer.
Shead, a consensus All-American honoree for his play during the 2023-24 season, saw his right foot take an unnatural turn on a drive to the rim with just over six minutes left in the first half.
While agonizing in pain on the court, Shead covered his face with his jersey.
He walked slowly toward the locker room to get an instant evaluation.
It was revealed that the ankle injury, while not a fracture, was a bad sprain, per the team, indicating that it still would’ve likely kept Shead out for the remainder of the tournament had the Cougars been victorious on Friday.
Houston led Duke 16-10 at the time of Shead’s injury.
Shead’s night ended with just two points in his 13 minutes of play, though he did record two steals and dished out three assists.
Prior to tonight, the 6-foot-1 senior guard averaged 13.2 points, 6.4 assists and 2.2 steals per game this season.
He also collected a laundry list of awards for his play on the No. 1 seed Cougars, including Big 12 Player of the Year and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.
After the game, Duke players went over to Shead, who was sitting on the bench, giving him high-fives in a sign of respect.