Mississippi State star Tolu Smith likely out vs. Kentucky

The Mississippi State Bulldogs will likely be without one of their best players Tuesday night against the Kentucky Wildcats.

On Sunday, the school announced that junior forward Tolu Smith is week-to-week after sustaining a knee injury in Saturday’s win over Ole Miss.

After the game, Bulldogs head coach Ben Howland (via The Clarion Ledger) said the initial prognosis was a patella subluxation, also known as a partially dislocated knee cap.

There’s almost no shot Smith plays this week, though it’s good to know his season isn’t over.

Smith, currently averaging 13.1 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, led the SEC in rebounding (8.5) and double-doubles (eight) last season. That included a 13-point, 11-rebound effort in the Bulldogs’ SEC Tournament win over Kentucky.

Unfortunately for Smith, this is just the latest setback due to injury. He’s been limited to just eight games this season after missing the start of the season while recovering from a stress fracture in his foot. He also missed time due to fractured pinky toe, so Mississippi State is used to playing without him.

With Smith out, that means we’ll likely see more of junior forward Javian Davis. The 6-foot-11 big man is averaging 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game this season.

Mississippi State will also go a bit smaller with 6-foot-7 guard Cameron Matthews at the 4 spot. Matthews is averaging 4.4 points, 4.9 boards and 1.4 assists per game.

While Smith is likely out for Mississippi State, Kentucky will also be affected by the injury bug with TyTy Washington highly questionable to play following an ankle injury sustained Saturday at Auburn.