This past weekend, the Xavier Musketeers lost 68-65 to the Cincinnati Bearcats. But now they are in deep trouble, as their leading scorer, Zach Freemantle, has been sidelined indefinitely. Sports analyst John Fanta shared the news in a recent social media post.

The post stated that Freemantle sustained a lower back injury during the game. Through 11 games this season, Freemantle has been leading the Musketeers in scoring, rebounding, blocks, and field goal percentage, averaging 16.9 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.5 assists while shooting 54.4%.

However, now that he is out, the Musketeers have a lot to think over and strategize. He did miss the end of the 2022-23 season and the entire 2023-24 season due to foot surgeries. As a result, he came back for a final season of college basketball. However, this injury has steered things in a different direction for Freemantle.

As for Xavier, losing their star player is pivotal as they are about to begin their Big East play with their upcoming rivals being the UConn Huskies. His absence will undoubtedly be felt, especially considering the impact he has made this season.

Most recently, he was named to the BIG EAST Conference Honor Roll for the second time this month, following standout performances where he averaged 22.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 1.5 steals per game in matchups against Morgan State and Cincinnati.

Sure, Dan Hurley is going to get a good boost out of this one. But what does it mean for the Musketeers?

What does Zach Freemantle’s injury mean for Xavier?

Freemantle’s injury is a crushing blow for Xavier as they are to enter the Big East Conference play as he was playing the best basketball of his career so far. He was excelling in his moves on both ends of the court in Xavier’s 8-3 start to the season. Over the last two years, Xavier’s encounter with injuries in its frontcourt has been pulling down their spirits.

Both Freemantle and forward Jerome Hunter missed the entire last season and the program’s struggles never got solved. Just when the team was fully healthy in the final month of the off-season, starting center Lassina Traore tore his ACL during practice in early October.

Now with Freemantle no longer playing, Jerome Hunter will most likely be moving into the starting lineup and the program will require some contribution from John Hugley.