Michael O'Connell injured vs Purdue Boilermakers: latest update for Final Four game

In the penultimate game of the season, the NC State Wolfpack faced the dominant Purdue Boilermakers.

DJ Burns Jr., Mohamed Diarra, DJ Horne, Michael O'Connell, and Casey Morsell took the court to try to take down the beast in front of them.

As the first minutes ticked by, O'Connell went down and stayed there.

Despite continuing to play, anyone watching the game could tell that he wasn't quite right. O'Connell looked stiff, slow, and like he was in genuine pain.

After a few minutes of attempting to push through the pain, Kevin Keatts took his starting guard out of the game.

O'Connell had collected just 3 points, 1 rebound, and 1 assist before he had to be escorted to the locker room.

When O'Connell reemerged with the NC State training staff, he stayed on the sideline as his teammates tried to keep the Wolfpack in the game.

Right before halftime, the team shared that O'Connell was working on a tight hamstring that was causing him quite a bit of discomfort on the court.

He was listed as probable to return but had reportedly told his coaches that he was good to go and ready to get back to action.

As the two teams headed back to their locker rooms, Purdue was leading NC State 35-29 and had yet to trail in the game.

Just before the start of the second half, Keatts shared that O'Connell had been downgraded to questionable and would remain out for the moment.

O'Connell was seen on the stationary bike to remain warm and continue stretching his hamstring.

With just under 10 minutes remaining in the game, O'Connell returned to the court.

O'Connell was assigned to guard Lance Jones who repeatedly drove to the rim to try and tire O'Connell out and take advantage of his injury.

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