Basketballs
College BasketballNCAABy Kevin Harrish on

The Houston Cougars are one of four No. 1 seeds in the 2023 NCAA Tournament and all season, they have been led by star guard Marcus Sasser, who has emerged as one of the top players in the entire country. But it looks like there’s a chance the team will have to play without him in the second round.

Marcus Sasser suffered a groin injury last week during the American Athletic Conference tournament semifinal matchup with the Cincinnati Bearcats. The injury caused him to miss the championship game against the Memphis Tigers, but he claimed he would be “100 percent” healthy heading into the team’s opening-round game on Thursday. But apparently, that wasn’t exactly the case.

Sasser played 14 minutes in Thursday’s game against the Northern Kentucky Norse before exiting the game after aggravating his groin injury. He watched the rest of the game from the bench as his teammates played a too-close-for-comfort game against the No. 16 seed before they ultimately pulled away in the last few minutes for a double-digit victory.

Houston shared that Sasser was “questionable” to return to the game, but he ultimately did not play – even with the game close down the stretch.

Given how the team has performed without him, many in the college basketball world are understandably concerned about his status for the second-round game against the Auburn Tigers, with some fans angry that Sasser even played in Thursday’s game in the first place.

Obviously, Sasser is crucial to Houston’s chances of making a deep run through the tournament, so this is a horrible update for the team.

[Houston Men’s Hoops]

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