Bruce Brown entered the 2017-18 college basketball season with lottery-pick potential, but a frustrating season now includes a setback for the Miami Hurricanes guard.
The school announced Tuesday that Brown will undergo surgery after sustaining a left-foot injury during practice and will miss six weeks.
Brown has averaged 11.4 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists as a sophomore, all of which are career-best marks. However, the versatile guard has struggled mightily with his high-arcing shot this year.
Last season, he connected on 34.7 percent of his three-point attempts and 45.9 overall, adding a 74.4 mark at the free-throw line. In 2017-18, however, Brown’s numbers have dropped to 26.7 from beyond the arc, 41.5 overall and 62.9 at the charity stripe.
Broken down even further, Brown made just 25.0 percent of his three-pointers — also committing 2.8 turnovers per game — in eight ACC appearances.
Miami is a respectable 15-5 and positioned well to earn an at-large berth for the NCAA tournament, and the initial timeline for Brown’s return means he might be available for March Madness.
But for that to happen, the ‘Canes need standout freshman Lonnie Walker to continue his impressive play and propel the team without Brown.