Ben Bentil Injury: Updates on Providence Forward's Foot and Return

Providence Friars' leading scorer and rebounder, sophomore forward Ben Bentil, is considered day-to-day while dealing with an ankle injury, per ESPN's Jeff Goodman.

Continue for updates.

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Bentil Likely to Miss Matchup with No. 3 Villanova Wildcats

Thursday, Feb. 4

Bentil injured the ankle in Providence's 77-70 upset loss to DePaul. FoxSports.com's Reid Forgrave posted a photo of the Friars' medical staff attending to the player:

Bentil's numbers have risen massively over his production as a freshman. He's averaging 19.7 points and 7.8 rebounds a game, up from 6.4 and 4.9, respectively, last year. CSNPhilly.com's Reuben Frank called him one of the most improved players in the country.

The timing of his injury couldn't be much worse for Providence. The Friars face off with Villanova on Saturday, and on Feb. 17, they take on the sixth-ranked Xavier Musketeers. Since he's only day-to-day, Bentil should be back against Xavier, but he might still be suffering from lingering effects.

As long as Bentil is 100 percent heading into the conference and NCAA tournaments, Providence should be poised to make deep runs in both events. In that respect, the Friars dodged a bit of a bullet with regard to the severity of Bentil's ankle injury.

Should Bentil be absent against Villanova and any games beyond that, head coach Ed Cooley will lean more heavily on junior guard Kris Dunn to be the team's main scoring threat, while freshman forward Quadree Smith will likely see more playing time alongside sophomore forward Rodney Bullock in the Friars' frontcourt.