Purdue Coach Matt Painter Says Starting Forward Mason Gillis Back at Practice
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue junior Mason Gillis has missed the team's last three games with a back injury. Coach Matt Painter said Thursday that the starting forward returned to practice for the first time since his injury.
Painter did not reveal Gillis' status for Saturday's game against Davidson in the Inaugural Indy Classic at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, but the team will continue to evaluate his performance in the coming days.
"I don't know if he did everything, but he did most everything," Painter said of Gillis. "So that's good. I think any time you're dealing with somebody's back, it's always good to wait until the next day to see how they are also. Hopefully, he feels good tomorrow and can practice tomorrow and will be ready to go Saturday."
In seven games this season, Gillis is averaging 5.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game for the Boilermakers. He is shooting 44.4% from the 3-point line and 88.9% on his free throw attempts.
Sophomore forward Caleb Furst entered the starting lineup and played at least 20 minutes in each of the last three matchups, reaching double figures in two games. Redshirt freshman forward Trey Kaufman-Renn has also had to step into a more prominent role alongside Furst and junior center Zach Edey in the frontcourt.
It is unclear whether Gillis will return to the same starting role if he is healthy enough to play on Saturday. Painter will use the team's practice time to continue evaluating his condition and make a decision come game day.
"We'll see. I always play the eye test with it, sometimes kind of wean guys back in," Painter said. "It just depends. Depends on how they are when they go back in there, depends on who they are in terms of how they recover and how they get back. I gauge it on how other people play. And I gauge it, obviously, on how they play."
Purdue and Davidson are scheduled to tip off at 6:15 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.