UCLA forward Tyler Bilodeau believed to have suffered a knee sprain

So you’re telling me there’s a chance? The initial indications surrounding Tyler Bilodeau’s right knee injury is that the UCLA Bruin forward suffered a knee sprain during UCLA’s upset win over Michigan State in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.

The Bruins will have roughly 16 hours between games before they face the No. 18 Purdue Boilermakers in the tournament semifinals. During Mick Cronin’s postgame press conference, Cronin said that Bilodeau will have imaging done on his knee Friday night.

"It would take a miracle for Tyler Bilodeau to play tomorrow,” Cronin said. "Meaning I'd let him play."

A knee sprain hurts, but it is far from the worst case scenario for Bilodeau’s injury, as the All-Big Ten forward did not return to Friday’s game. Prior the injury, Bilodeau scored five points in 10 minutes. If UCLA has to play without Bilodeau, it’ll be hard to make up for his 18.1 points and 5.8 rebounds per night.

Even though UCLA has pulled off a surprising run to the Big Ten tournament semifinals, it’d be risky to have Bilodeau return for Saturday’s game versus Purdue. Bilodeau scored 14 points with four made threes in UCLA’s win over the Boilermakers back in January.

UCLA will be playing for a third-straight day on Saturday, with it also set to be their most important game of the season. The safe decision is to rest Bilodeau and his knee on Saturday and see if the Bruins can shock Purdue without their leading scorer.

With the win on Friday, UCLA has proved they’re capable of beating the best teams in the country. A healthy and productive Bilodeau is required for the Bruins to make a deep (but now less surprising) run in the NCAA tournament.

This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Mick Cronin wouldn't quite rule Tyler Bilodeau out for Saturday's game