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Purdue’s Robbie Hummel had surgery on a torn ACL in his right knee Monday.

Injuries plague marquee names

Evan Turner, Kalin Lucas and Robbie Hummel each made the All-Big Ten’s first team.

And each had injuries that influenced the conference’s regular-season race.

Teams near the top (Ohio State, Michigan State, Purdue and Wisconsin), in the middle (Northwestern) and near the bottom (Indiana) of the Big Ten had to contend with injuries to marquee players this season.

“It’s amazing how the Big Ten has been hit,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “From Evan and now Robbie Hummel and (Maurice) Creek at Indiana. There are several others.

“I’ve always said about injuries, you can never prepare for them. It kind of comes with the nature. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

Turner missed six games for Ohio State (14-4 Big Ten) after fracturing his back in a Dec. 5 game against Eastern Michigan. The guard sat out the Buckeyes’ first two conference games. Ohio State lost both.

He returned against Indiana, and Ohio State won 14 of its final 16 league games to earn a share of the Big Ten title and the top seed for the conference tournament, which begins Thursday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

“You see what Evan Turner meant to his team coming back. Now he has them (as) one of the top teams in the country,” Minnesota coach Tubby Smith said.

Turner was named Big Ten Player of the Year. Last year’s award winner, Kalin Lucas, had a lingering ankle injury that affected him for three games. The guard suffered the setback Feb. 2 at Wisconsin and missed the final 10:40 of a 67-49 loss. He sat out the next game at Illinois and played 29 minutes off the bench against Purdue. The Spartans lost all three.

Inserted back as a starter, Michigan State won five of its last six to capture a share of the conference crown and the third seed for the Big Ten tournament.

“Obviously, Evan’s was a little more serious than Kalin’s, but it still affected Michigan State,” Purdue coach Matt Painter said. “Now he’s healthy or working toward being 100 percent. It’s a positive for Michigan State at this time.”

It remains to be seen how Painter’s team will be affected by Hummel’s injury.

The forward had surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Monday. Hummel suffered the injury Feb. 24 at Minnesota.

The Boilermakers lost their next game, Feb. 28 against Michigan State, but won their final two to grab a share of the Big Ten title and the second seed in the conference tournament. Hummel’s absence could affect Purdue’s seeding for the NCAA tournament.

“Purdue losing Hummel, that’s just heartbreaking to see a kid and a team that was playing so well lose such a key factor at this point in the season,” Michigan coach John Beilein said.

Wisconsin came up one win shy of making it a four-way tie for first.

The Badgers were without Jon Leuer for nine conference games because of a wrist injury. Wisconsin went 6-3 without the forward, an All-Big Ten honorable-mention selection.

Those four teams are locks for the NCAA tournament. Northwestern’s hopes of making the field for the first time took a hit when Kevin Coble suffered a foot injury just before the start of the season. The Wildcats still finished with a program-record 19 victories.

Smith is impressed with how the teams have responded to the circumstances.

“Each team has had some issue,” he said. “That’s the ultimate, to have everyone healthy and everyone playing in the league and getting six or seven teams in the NCAA (tournament). This league is very good, even going through all that.”

lpope@jg.net