Richmond’s leading scorer to miss 4-6 weeks with injury

Richmond leading scorer Blake Francis is expected to miss four to six weeks because of a fractured sternum, the school announced.

Francis suffered the injury in Richmond’s 74-58 loss a week ago to Saint Louis, when he was going after a loose ball with two minutes remaining, according to the school. The junior guard did not play in the Spiders’ victory Tuesday again st Davidson.

The 6-foot Francis is averaging 17.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game this season, his first with the Spiders.

Francis transferred to Richmond in 2018 after spending his first two seasons at Wagner. He did not play last season.

Richmond (13-4, 3-1 Atlantic 10 Conference) has its best record through 17 games since the 2010-11 team won a school-record 29 games and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.

San Diego State

Kawhi Leonard will become the first player to have his jersey retired when the No. 7 Aztecs honor him Feb. 1 in a game against Utah State. Leonard helped lead the Aztecs to national prominence in his two seasons, including reaching the school’s first Sweet 16 and finishing a program-best 34-3 in 2010-11. Leonard is expected to be present as his No. 15 jersey is raised to the rafters at Viejas Arena. His L.A. Clippers play a home game that afternoon.

Mississippi State

Former Pitt coach Ben Howland received a $25,000 fine and a reprimand from the Southeastern Conference for discussing a conversation he had with the league office about the officiating in a loss last week to LSU. SEC officials said Howland violated a league bylaw that prohibits coaches, players and support personnel from offering public criticism of officials or for making public any specific communication with the league office related to officiating. Howland said at a Monday news conference that he spoke with Mark Whitehead, SEC coordinator of men’s basketball officials, about “a number of calls” that were made a week ago in the Mississippi State-LSU game. Howland coached Pitt from 1999-03 before spending 10 years at UCLA.