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A stray foot underneath a landing player can wreak havoc — and it could have lasting implications for the Runnin' Utes (7-3) going into the coming weeks.

Junior forward Kyle Kuzma, entered Thursday night's game against Hawaii leading the team in scoring (16.0 ppg), rebounding (11.3 rpg) and assists (3.6 apg) landed on a San Francisco player's foot on Utah's first offensive possession and left the game. He reappeared in the second half in a boot on his right foot, and did not return to the game, an 89-86 loss to the Dons.

Late Thursday night, the initial diagnosis reported on the ESPN broadcast was an ankle sprain. Coach Larry Krystkowiak told reporters in Hawaii that Kuzma was due for an X-ray. He said on postgame broadcast on ESPN 700 AM that the injury "was starting to settle in."

"Hopefully it's a sprain," Krystkowiak added.

There were some consequences that registered on the stat sheet: Utah, the No. 2 team in rebounding margin (plus-14.0 avg) entering the game was outrebounded. Tyler Rawson led with nine boards, and while David Collette offered post presence with 18 points, he had only three rebounds. Rawson ended up playing 37 minutes, while Collette played 34.

Kuzma was also missed in the play-making department: Utah had 12 assists to 21 turnovers and had an assist rate of only 41 percent. Sedrick Barefield, while completely unstoppable as a scorer (35 points, 11 for 15) and having the best point total of any Ute in 19 years, had no assists. Utah's ball movement, which showed signs of a rhythm in the last game against Prairie View, mostly hit a wall.

A captain and the most tenured member of the team, Kuzma's experience and poise was likely missed as well.

The question turns ahead to how long Kuzma will be out: Even if his X-ray is free of fractures, a sprain would likely put him out of the remainder of the tournament. Utah then has a week before conference play, which starts at home Jan. 1 against Colorado but quickly speeds up into a road game at Arizona.

Utah is also scheduled for mid-January match-ups at home against USC (12-0) and UCLA (13-0). The prospect of losing Kuzma into that stretch will be a difficult one to grapple with.

Krystkowiak didn't sound upbeat afterward: "It didn't look good and he was in an awful lot of pain. It wouldn't strike me as something we'll see him bounce back from."

— Kyle Goon