Iowa State and Tennessee will go head-to-head in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night. Both teams have performed well in the tournament, but they are dealing with injury concerns.
According to the injury report from ncaa.com, Tennessee's Cade Phillips and Iowa State's Mason Williams are both out for the game. Meanwhile, Joshua Jefferson and Xzavion Mitchell are both listed as questionable to play.
Jefferson is second in scoring for Iowa State with 16.4 points per game. He is also second in assists with 4.8 per outing. Mitchell has appeared in only seven games, but depth is important in the NCAA Tournament.
Phillips appeared in 10 games for Tennessee and averaged 3.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. He is the team's only player on the injury report at the moment.
Joshua Jefferson's Final Injury Status Could Determine Tennessee-Iowa State Game Outcome
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Jefferson, 22, is dealing with an ankle injury. The Iowa State star suffered the injury earlier in the tournament. At first, it was uncertain how much time he would miss. He has since missed a game, but his questionable status suggests he could potentially return on Friday night.
Jefferson recently addressed his injury concern, via Isaac Trotter.
"Still a good amount of pain," Jefferson said. "If I can just play through hurt, I can play through hurt... Just trying to progress every single day. That's the only thing I can think about right now. Try to be out there with my team. We've worked hard to get here, so just trying to get out there with them."
Jefferson wants to be on the floor with Iowa State. He acknowledged that watching from the sideline is a challenge.
"Yeah, it's hard," Jefferson said. "You always want to be out there, you never want to be on the sideline. Just gotta deal with it right now."
It remains to be seen if Jefferson will be limited to strictly a role on the sidelines on Friday night. If he feels like he can play, the star could end up on the floor against Tennessee.
Iowa State and Tennessee will play at 10:10 PM EST on Friday night in what projects to be a competitive NCAA Tournament affair. Further injury updates will be made available ahead of tip-off.
