Penn star Ethan Roberts taken to hospital after leaving Big 5 Classic with injury
Roberts entered Saturday leading the Quakers with 20.3 points per game.
Penn leading scorer Ethan Roberts left Saturday’s Big 5 Classic championship game vs. Villanova with an injury and was on his way to the hospital after the game ended, Quakers coach Fran McCaffery said.
“He was visibly not in a good place,” McCaffery said after Penn’s 90-63 loss to Villanova. “Our thoughts and prayers are with him. We’ll get over to the hospital and see how he’s doing.”
Roberts, who entered Saturday scoring 20.3 points per game in Penn’s first eight contests, left Saturday’s game with 18 minutes, 6 seconds left in the second half after colliding with a Villanova player. It appeared as if he was hit in the jaw area, though Penn did not disclose what Roberts’ injury was.
“It was scary,” Penn forward T.J. Power said. “Ethan is probably my best friend on the team. Scary moment to process quickly.
“We’ll be with him from now until he gets back to us.”
It’s too early to say how long Penn will be without Roberts, who is a senior that, prior to being held scoreless Saturday, reached double figures in every game this season. McCaffery called losing Roberts a “game-changer.”
“He’s not only one of our best players but one of the best players around,” McCaffery said.
Roberts helped lift Penn to Saturday’s Big 5 Classic championship game with his performances in pod play. He scored 31 points in Penn’s 83-74 victory over St. Joseph’s, and followed that up with 30 points in an 84-68 win over Drexel.
The Quakers play Monday vs. Lafayette before next playing Rutgers on Dec. 20. Four games separate Penn from its Jan. 5 Ivy League opener at Princeton.