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Marquette put up a hell of a fight against Villanova on Saturday afternoon, but ultimately fell short against the #6 ranked Wildcats. Part of the reason for the loss might be that they only had 6 available scholarship players because Matt Carlino was still out while dealing with concussion issues and Juan Anderson got dinged up in practice on Thursday.
So, now three full days have passed since that game. Where are we on the injuries? Well, Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is on the case.
Matt Carlino has practiced with contact this week per @steve_wojo. He's not a 100% sure thing to play, but that's a positive sign for #mubb.
— Matt Velazquez (@Matt_Velazquez) February 24, 2015
Presuming that Carlino has practiced multiple times this week, this is a pretty positive sign. Part of his recovery from the concussion has to be how he responds to the physical activity, not just immediately, but 12, 24 or 36 hours later. If he's practiced multiple times, then he wasn't showing adverse reactions to the first practice when the second one started. Again, as Velazquez points out, not a guarantee that he won't have some kind of setback between then and tonight, but it's at least a sign that Carlino will play again this season.
Juan Anderson (right ankle) has been held out of practice after missing Saturday's game. He is questionable for tomorrow vs. Butler. #mubb
— Matt Velazquez (@Matt_Velazquez) February 24, 2015
This is less encouraging. It's possible that Anderson's injury needs rest more than anything else. If that's the case, then it's possible that resting in a walking boot is going to get him close enough to healthy enough to play tonight. On the flip side, if Anderson has been prevented from doing anything in practice on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, then it seems unlikely that he's going to be ready to try to defend a Bulldog or two.
My gut feeling is that neither guy will play against Butler. I know that Steve Wojciechowski wants to win basketball games, but that's not more important than long term health for either Matt Carlino or Juan Anderson. At this point in what might be the worst Marquette basketball season in 25 years, you can't fault Wojo for erring heavily on the side of caution to allow both guys a chance to get healed up completely.