JUSTIN SMITH down 3-6 weeks for ankle.

FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas forward Justin Smith is expected to be out three to six weeks after surgery on his right ankle, the Razorbacks announced about an hour before tipoff of Saturday’s 81-68 home loss to Missouri.

A release from UA said Smith, a graduate transfer from Indiana, had successful arthroscopic debridement surgery on his right ankle Friday.

The Razorbacks missed Smith’s inside presence and rebounding in a major way against the Tigers. Missouri outrebounded the Razorbacks 51-36.

Davonte Davis, Jaylin Williams, Vance Jackson and Ethan Henderson all spent time in Smith’s power forward/small forward spot on Saturday. Coach Eric Musselman said none of the Razorbacks had a good game, and he’s not sure how filling in Smith’s minutes will play out beginning with Wednesday’s game at No. 7 Tennessee.

“It’s on me to try to figure it out,” Musselman said. “And we’re not going to have it figured out by Tennessee, I promise you that. It’s gonna be a process, just like it was last year when Isaiah [Joe] was out.”

Freshman Moses Moody said losing Smith was “definitely a shock.”

“Last game I saw him go down, but I was waiting on him to check back in,” Moody said. “I looked over and saw him in a boot. So, that caught me off guard for sure. Like I said … another man goes down, next man steps up.”

Smith, the 6-7, 230-pounder from Buffalo Grove, Ill., had started the first nine games for the Razorbacks and averaged 11.6 points and 7.1 rebounds. He ranks third in the SEC in offensive rebounds.

He injured the ankle in the first half of Wednesday’s 97-85 win at Auburn and did not return after taking a hard foul and falling to the floor with seven minutes left in the half. In addition to his right ankle injury, Smith’s left calf muscle was injured, Musselman said.

Smith had double-figure rebounds in back-to-back games prior to the injury, including his fifth career double-double with 22 points and 17 rebounds in an 87-76 win over Oral Roberts.

If he returns on the early side of his projected recovery time, he’ll miss six games. If Smith comes back on the high end of the estimated time, he would miss as many as 12 games and return with six games remaining in the regular season.

Davis, a 6-3 freshman from Jacksonville, started in Smith’s spot and scored the Hogs’ first points of the game on a cut to the rim and feed from Moses Moody at the 18:29 mark.

(Special to the NWA Democrat-Gazette/David Beach) University of Arkansas forward Justin Smith (left), shown in a victory against Southern last month, had surgery on his right ankle Friday and is expected to miss three to six weeks.