One thought raced through Creighton forward Justin Carter's mind as he lay on the Qwest Center Omaha floor Sunday afternoon, fighting back tears as pain shot through his left leg.

“I just kept thinking about my future,'' Carter said. “I just hoped that it wasn't too serious.''

Carter won't know until Monday the full extent of the damage to his left knee that occurred with about eight minutes to play in the Bluejays' 93-77 exhibition game victory over UNO. He had to be carried to the locker room but later returned to watch the final minutes of the game on the bench.

He underwent about 45 minutes of treatment in the Creighton training room after the game and will have a MRI performed Monday. By the time he left the arena on crutches late Sunday afternoon, Carter's outlook had brightened a bit.

“They don't know how bad it is, but they're talking like it could be my MCL,'' Carter said.

While hardly minor, injuries to the medial collateral ligament usually aren't as serious as those to the anterior cruciate ligament. Surgery almost always is required to repair tears to the latter, putting a player on the sidelines for four to six months. Treatment of MCL tears or sprains usually is more conservative.

“When it first happened, I was thinking negative,'' he said. “I'm more positive now. This could be a minor thing.''

That hardly seemed the case when Carter was being attended to immediately after the injury. A hush fell over the crowd. Teammates gathered around, and Creighton coach Dana Altman had a “what-do-we-do-now'' expression on his face.

The 6-foot-4 Carter is considered the Bluejays' leader. He joined the program last season as a junior-college transfer, started every game and finished as Creighton's leading rebounder (5.5 per game) and fourth-leading scorer (8.1 points per game).

At his postgame press conference, Altman said it's too early to speculate either on the extent of Carter's injury or its potential impact on the team if the forward would miss an extended period of time.

“Hopefully it's just a strain,'' Altman said. “We're hoping like heck that it's nothing serious. On a team that has a little trouble rebounding, it would be tough to lose him. I feel badly for Justin because he's prepared really hard to get ready for this year.

“It could change things a great deal, and I'm going to have to put some thought into that.''

Carter's injury came on a non-contact play after he had taken a pass from teammate P'Allen Stinnett.

“I was about to make a move to the middle and I slipped on a wet spot,'' he said. “My leg buckled on the inside, and I heard a little pop.''

Altman called Carter one of Creighton's toughest players and recalled how Carter had played last season after suffering a strained Achilles tendon.

“I told him to take a couple of games off, and he wouldn't do it,'' Altman said. “He's got a pretty high pain tolerance.''

At the same time, Carter is aware that knee injuries can sometimes end careers or leave a player unable to perform up to expectations.

“I'm going to take precautions with the knee,'' he said. “I'll go with what the doctors say and what the trainer says. I want to come back strong and lead this team again.''

Contact the writer:

679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com

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