RANDY PETERSON

Iowa State's Lindell Wigginton, Solomon Young are doubtful to face Drake

Randy Peterson
The Des Moines Register

AMES, Ia. — Maybe it was more wishful thinking than anything else, when Iowa State basketball coach Steve Prohm mentioned Monday that Lindell Wigginton and Solomon Young might be healthy enough to return for Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. game against Drake at Wells Fargo Arena.

Prohm said Thursday that they might need more time to rehab.

When asked Thursday morning by the Register if the two starters would play, he responded in a text:

“Don’t think so.”

Therefore, it looks like the next opportunity to play would be Dec. 21 against Eastern Illinois at Hilton Coliseum — one game before the Cyclones open the Big 12 season Jan. 2 at Oklahoma State.

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Injured Iowa State guard Lindell Wigginton sits on the bench before an NCAA college basketball game against Missouri, Friday, Nov. 9, 2018, in Ames, Iowa.

Wigginton has been out with a strained left foot. Young hasn’t played this season after undergoing surgery to repair a groin injury.

“Lindell will add a huge boost to our team,” Prohm said Monday. “It makes our perimeter deeper. It gives an opportunity to rest (Nick Weiler-Babb) a lot more at times. Lindell brings a lot of experience and great scoring punch to our team, and another playmaker.”

As for Young, Prohm said Monday:

“When he’s healthy, he gives us the enforcer around the basket that we need ... toughness and physicalness around the basket.”