Tyshawn Taylor out of knee surgery

December 11, 2011|KWCH 12 Eyewitness Sports

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - — Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee Sunday and could be out up to three weeks.

Taylor hurt the knee early last week but played through the injury in the 13th-ranked Jayhawks' 78-67 victory over No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday. After the game, coach Bill Self disclosed the torn meniscus and said Taylor also had a sprained MCL in the same knee.

"I spoke with the doctors and it went as well as expected," Self said Sunday. "He will be up and around tomorrow morning and will be back in the shortest time possible. The time for recovery depends on swelling and how he reacts to rehab."

Taylor is the Jayhawks' leading returning scorer and is averaging 15.9 points and 4.7 assists. He had nine points and a career-high 13 assists against the Buckeyes.

"Certain things that I do, like planting off my right foot and jumping off my right foot, I feel it, but I wasn't really affected by it the last two games," Taylor said Saturday. "I've been playing with this, I'm fine. Surgery's going to make it better. I'll be back 100 percent."

Self said there were discussions about having surgery last Tuesday, shortly after the injury happened, but Taylor said he would rather play through pain than miss the Ohio State game.

After consulting with the Kansas medical staff, it was decided that Taylor couldn't do any more harm to the knee by playing. It became a matter of tolerance, and Self said he never cared to ask how much pain Taylor was feeling because he didn't want to hear the answer.

"I can get on Tyshawn for turning it over. I can get on him for not making some plays, which I think is conducive to being an extension of the head coach, but I can't get on him for toughness," Self said. "He's been hurt, and he goes out there and gives his body up.

"I think our fans should really appreciate him playing nicked up."

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