WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue men's basketball will manage without one of its frontcourt depth pieces for at least one more game.
The No. 1 Boilermakers listed Liam Murphy as out for Friday's noon tipoff against Eastern Illinois. It will be the fourth consecutive game Murphy has missed due to a shoulder injury.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMurphy returned to contact drills in Wednesday's practice. Matt Painter, who started the day still believing the North Florida transfer was limited to non-contact work, said Purdue would be careful about not bringing Murphy back too quickly.
Murphy injured the shoulder in practice the day before a Nov. 16 home game against Akron. He did not play in victories over Memphis and Texas Tech at the Baha Mar Championship in the Bahamas.
Purdue brought Murphy in for extra depth and a perimeter shooting threat behind starting power forward Trey Kaufman-Renn. Jack Benter emerged as the primary option there, starting the first two games of the season with Kaufman-Renn out with a hip injury.
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AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHowever, Murphy demonstrated his potential value by scoring 11 points in 10 minutes in that second game -- an 87-77 victory over Oakland.
Purdue begins Big Ten Conference play Tuesday at Rutgers.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Liam Murphy injury update: Purdue basketball forward status for game today
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