LSU Basketball season goes from bad to worse with latest Dedan Thomas Jr. injury update

The LSU men's basketball program is enduring yet another tough season on the hardwood. Heading into Saturday's matchup at Tennessee, the Tigers are just 2-9 in SEC play, placing them at the bottom of the league standings.

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The season has now gone from bad to worse with the latest injury update regarding Dedan Thomas Jr. LSU's star point guard missed the first five games of the SEC schedule with a foot injury. He then returned for three games before seemingly re-injuring his foot on January 28 against Mississippi State. He hasn't played since, and now his season is over.

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On Saturday, Matt McMahon announced that Thomas is set to undergo season-ending foot surgery. The procedure will take place next week, and his absence will be a big one for the Tigers the rest of the way this season.

To say the Tigers will miss Thomas would be an understatement. Not only does he lead the Tigers in scoring with 15.3 points per game, but he also leads LSU in assists averaging 6.5 per game. He was also shooting a career-best 45.9% from the field. Furthermore, he led the SEC in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio until he fell off the rankings due to the 75 percent participation rule.

Thomas put together two sensational years at UNLV before transferring to LSU following the 2024-25 season. In his collegiate career between UNLV and LSU, Thomas has appeared in 76 total games and has averaged 14.6 points and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 43.7% from the field.

Without Thomas running the Tiger offense, LSU will turn to seniors Max Mackinnon and Rashad King, as well as freshman Jalen Reece to step up and lead the backcourt the rest of the way. Following Saturday's contest against Tennessee in Knoxville, LSU will take on the Texas Longhorns in Austin on Tuesday night.