MILWAUKEE — Marquette junior guard Vander Blue is expected to play Thursday when the Golden Eagles travel to Florida to take on No.7 Florida.
Blue missed Monday's 79-46 non-conference victory with the University of Maryland-Baltimore County with a sprained left knee, but that was more of a precaution against an inferior opponent.
Instead, Blue took a run on an air pressure controlled treadmill and went through Marquette's warm-ups. That all went well, but the final step is going through workouts Tuesday.
"I don't anticipate it being a problem," Marquette head coach Buzz Williams said of Blue playing against the Gators. "Since I've been here, Vander has been as consistent as any player other than Jimmy Butler in showing up every day. He's never missed a practice, never missed a game (prior to Monday), he's very durable. I think that he will be fine."
Blue, who is Marquette's second leading scorer at 11.8 points per game, was injured late in the Golden Eagles 72-64 victory over USC in their Maui Invitational finale on Nov. 21.
Sitting out Monday gave Blue a five-day break, which is an eternity over the course of a long basketball season.
"That's as long of a break within our calendar that he'll get, so hopefully he'll be back," Williams said.
With Blue out, head coach Buzz Williams returned junior Jamil Wilson to the starting lineup, along with Junior Cadougan, Trent Lockett, Juan Anderson and Chris Otule.
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