WKU's Bassey to have season-ending left knee surgery

Published Dec. 9, 2019 2:43 p.m. ET

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — Western Kentucky center Charles Bassey will miss the remainder of this season after fracturing his left knee against Arkansas.

The 6-foot-11, 230-pound sophomore sustained the injury late in the second half of the Hilltoppers' 86-79 overtime victory Saturday against the Razorbacks. WKU says in a release that Bassey will have surgery to repair a tibial plateau fracture on Tuesday in Houston with team physicians from the NFL's Texans and the NBA's Rockets. Those physicians operated on Texans defensive end J.J. Watt in 2017 for a similar injury, the release added.

Bassey will begin rehabilitation immediately after the surgery with an estimated recovery time of six to nine months. The Lagos, Nigeria, native entered the game averaging 15.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per game and had scored 10 points before the injury.