Izzo planning to be without Roe for two games

EAST LANSING - Delvon Roe knew immediately what happened.

For him, a wince of pain from his tweaked ankle felt almost like a sigh of relief.

"It's not as bad as people probably think it is - it's just a sprained ankle," said Roe, who suffered the injury in the second half of Michigan State's win Saturday over Oakland at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

"I'm just taking it day by day. It's better than the alternative of it being a knee or something like that, and it beats sitting out for months rather than a couple days."

Roe did not practice Sunday or Monday. MSU coach Tom Izzo said the freshman forward is questionable for Wednesday at Minnesota, but that could be downgraded to doubtful if he doesn't practice today.

It's another setback early in the career of one of Izzo's most highly lauded freshmen. Roe missed most of his senior season at St. Edward High in Lakewood, Ohio, following surgery last December to correct cartilage and ligament damage in his right knee. He then had surgery to correct swelling on his left knee in August and was limited in the early portion this season.

Though Roe's knee is getting healthier, one of the main problems has been developing chemistry. Senior Goran Suton missed six games with an ankle injury before returning for the last three, and Izzo has been trying to build a rapport between his big men.

Izzo said he's planning to be without Roe for the next two games, but that getting him back sooner would be "frosting."

"He's still way ahead of where he was, but it's just another injury," Izzo said. "It's nobody's fault - I even wanted to take him out of that (Oakland) game earlier, but I just felt like we have to start getting him some reps."

The 6-foot-8, 225-pound Roe has started the last five games for MSU (9-2). He's averaging 5.6 points and 5.7 rebounds in 19 minutes, leading the Spartans in rebounding over the last seven games.

Contact Chris Solari at 377-1070.