Knee injury ends season for Nebraska’s Emmanuel Bandoumel

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s EmmanuelBandoumel will require surgery and miss the rest of the seasonafter injuring his knee in a game over the weekend, coach FredHoiberg announced Monday.

Bandoumel’s knee buckled as he drove to the basket in the firsthalf of the Cornhuskers’ 76-65 loss Saturday to Penn State. He isthe second Nebraska starter in two weeks to sustain a season-endinginjury. Juwan Gary is out with a shoulder injury.

Bandoumel, a fifth-year guard who transferred from SMU, startedall 20 games for the Huskers (10-10, 3-6 Big Ten) and was averaging8.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.0 steals per game.

“I am heartbroken for Emmanuel to have his college career endthis way,” Hoiberg said. “I’ve said all season that Emmanuel is oneof the best defenders in the country, and he impacts the game in somany ways beyond the measurables.”

Bandoumel had started 84 consecutive games since his firstseason at SMU. He played 100 Division I games and totaled 880points, 351 rebounds and 160 assists during three seasons at SMUand one season at Nebraska. He began his career at Hill College in2018-19.