Baylor vs Gonzaga: 5 key storylines for No. 1 against No. 2 battle

2. Jalen Suggs and his status for the game

One of the scarier sights from Wednesday night was the injury to freshman guard Jalen Suggs and how significant his status is for the game.

https://twitter.com/BBiomechanics/status/1334309008069586946?s=20

The amount of pain that Suggs was in and the limited weight on his ankle showed signs of worrisome for Suggs, the team, and Gonzaga fans. There would be clips throughout the game of Suggs attempting to weight on it and to the point of even attempting to jog.

In a surprising development, Suggs would return to the game a little over halfway into the second half. He would not score again and take just one shot the rest of the evening. The playmaking and passing ability of Suggs have been a big part of Gonzaga’s success.

The playmaking ability can be replaced to an extent, with the possibility of Nembhard starting, if Suggs is not 100 percent by Saturday. Suggs had the most impressive freshman debut, out of the 2020 class with his performance against Kansas.

Suggs went for 24 points, eight assists, four rebounds, and two steals on 9-15 shooting from the field. He also added a few three-pointers and got the win for the Zags. Gonzaga has a plethora of talented players and five guys on their roster that score in double figures. However, the ball-handling of Suggs would be missed if he could not go.

The expectation is for him to play, but the status of him starting and receiving a lot of minutes is questionable.