When Yante Maten went down in Georgia men’s basketball game on Saturday evening versus Kentucky, it appeared to a significant leg injury, but if there is a silver lining in the cloud that surrounded the injury and the loss to Kentucky, it is that Maten’s injury is not as bad as it first appeared; nor, does it appear that he will need surgery.
 
 
Head Coach Mark Fox announced on Sunday that Maten suffered a right knee sprain during the game and will be out for an indefinite period of time.
 
 

“I am very disappointed for Yante,” Fox said. “He loves to play, and it’s tough when that is taken away by injury. Fortunately, it appears that surgery is not needed, and he should make a full recovery in time.”

 
 
Maten, who leads the Bulldogs and ranks third in the SEC in scoring, was injured just 95 seconds into the first half of Saturday night’s game. On the season, Maten is averaging 18.7 ppg, 6.9 rpg and 1.5 bpg. He has a team-high 24 double-digit scoring games, with 10 20-point and three 30-point performances.
 
 
The 6-8, junior from Pontiac, Mich., is one of 10 players on the final watch list for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award as the nation’s top center. He was named to the preseason watch list for the Karl Malone Award as the top power forward in the country. Maten was the only player who was switched from one watch list to another by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame committee which administers the national position player of the year awards.