Texas starting point guard Dogus Balbay has torn his ACL and will miss the rest of the season.
Balbay, who had started 22 games and was averaging 3.8 points and 3.9 assists, suffered the injury in the first half of the Longhorns' victory at Texas Tech on Saturday.
The injury was confirmed by Texas athletic trainer Eric Fry.
Balbay is the team's top perimeter defender and had also become a vocal leader on a Longhorns team that has lost six of its last 10 games after starting the season 17-0.
Now it'll put pressure on freshman J'Covan Brown to run the team and will also give Jai Lucas – the son of former NBA guard John Lucas – a chance to receive extended minutes in a reserve role. Senior Justin Mason will likely also see some time at point guard.
This is the second significant injury in the backcourt for a Texas team that entered the season with as much depth as anyone in the nation.
Varez Ward suffered a season-ending quad injury just three games into the 2009-10 season.
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