A second-half collision in MSU's 90-71 win over Michigan on Saturday has left MSU head coach Tom Izzo without one of his best players, potentially for the rest of the season.
Matt Trannon broke the right side of his jaw when he was sandwiched between U-M forward Graham Brown, MSU junior forward Delco Rowley and junior guard Shannon Brown during a moving screen by Graham Brown.
Graham Brown was called for an offensive foul on the play.
Trannon has started the last 10 games at power forward.
As usual, Izzo ribbed Trannon on the bench for not being tough enough, expecting a smile.
This time there was no smile.
"I had to give him my normal dig because we were up enough," Izzo said in his weekly news conference.
"I said, 'I know better than to recruit football players. They're not tough enough.' When he didn't laugh, I knew it was sorer than I gave it credit.
"I really didn't think it was broken."
Now, the No. 18 Spartans will be without the senior forward for at least three weeks if all goes well, but they could lose him for the rest of the season.
When Trannon returns, he will probably play with a protective face mask, and his jaw will not be wired shut, Izzo said.
"There's no real understanding yet," Izzo said of Trannon's timetable for returning.
"We're trying to check with pro teams and different places to see what we can build him. I don't know if it's legal to wear a football helmet."
The injury creates problems for the Spartans on defense, where Trannon's versatility was one of the team's greatest assets.
And it likely means redshirt freshman forward Marquise Gray will return to the starting lineup.
The loss couldn't have come at a worse time for MSU, as it faces two teams Trannon had his best games of the season against — Ohio State and Indiana.
The two teams generally play with four guards, making Trannon's 6-foot-6 frame crucial in defending the smaller lineups.
"It's a big blow," senior center Paul Davis said Monday. "He's been a big, big help to our team and to me.
"We're going to have to rotate two, three, four guys in there at that position."
The only physical activity Trannon will be able to do while he's out is riding an exercise bike, Izzo said.
Izzo is no stranger to broken jaws.
He broke his jaw three days before serving as best man in the wedding of former Detroit Lions head coach Steve Mariucci and a week before interviewing for a position on the MSU coaching staff.
Izzo was playing softball when he was hit in the jaw by a bouncing ground ball.
The film of Saturday's incident was inconclusive as to what exactly caused Trannon's injury.
But it appeared Shannon Brown ran into the moving screen set by Graham Brown, colliding with Trannon, whose face bounced off the U-M player's shoulder.
"I'm just hoping and praying it's going the be the minimum, and that we can find a mask of some kind that will allow him to play," Izzo said.
"But it won't be in the near future."
Matt Bishop can be reached at bishop20@msu.edu.
