Joe out after knee surgery
FAYETTEVILLE — University of Arkansas guard Isaiah Joe wasn’t in Walton Arena on Tuesday night for the Razorbacks’ game against No. 11 Auburn.
Joe watched the game — which the Tigers won 7976 in overtime — from his apartment while recovering from arthroscopic surgery he underwent on his right knee Tuesday.
Razorbacks Coach Eric Musselman visited the sophomore after his surgery.
“He was in good spirits,” Musselman said. “His mom and dad were with him.”
Musselman said he doesn’t have a timetable for Joe’s return, and that he’s out indefinitely.
“I don’t have any medical [expertise],” Musselman said. “I’m not educated in that field. So it’s just going to be a matter of how he feels and his rehab going forward.”
Musselman announced before the game that Joe had surgery.
“As I mentioned in the press conference Monday, Isaiah did have an MRI on his knee,” Musselman said in a news release. “The results came back late Monday and it was determined Isaiah would undergo surgery Tuesday.”
Musselman said Joe wasn’t at the game so he could begin the recovery and rehabilitation process.
Joe, a 6-5 sophomore from Fort Smith who is averaging 16.0 points per game, injured his knee Jan. 11 at Ole Miss when he
scored 34 points to lead Arkansas to a 76-72 victory.
Musselman said previously that Joe aggravated the knee injury in the Razorbacks’ 77-70 loss at Mississippi State on Jan. 22.
Joe sat out the next game when the Razorbacks beat TCU 78-67 on Jan. 25 with what Musselman said at the time was knee inflammation.
Joe then played 36 minutes off the bench and scored 16 points last Wednesday when South Carolina beat Arkansas 79-77 at Walton Arena.
He returned to the starting lineup at Alabama on Saturday, but went scoreless in 21 minutes and was 0 of 3 from the field — all on three-pointers — in the Razorbacks’ 8278 victory. He was limping noticeably after the game. It was the first time in 54 games Joe has played for Arkansas that he didn’t score.
Earlier Tuesday, Joe was named one of 10 finalists for the 2020 Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced.
Joe hit 11 of 18 shots at Ole Miss, including 7 of 13 three-pointers. Since that game, he’s shot 15 of 58 from the field, including 13 of 47 from beyond the arc.