As if Mississippi State didn't have enough depth problems, it's now without freshman post player Wendell Lewis. As the Clarion-Ledger first reported earlier this evening, Lewis suffered a broken foot and is out for the remainder of this season. A team spokesman confirmed to me a few moments ago that Lewis broke the fifth metatarsal bone, and he will have surgery to have a pin inserted.

The 6-foot-8 Lewis, from Selma, Ala., was averaging 1.5 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. He saw action in 23 of MSU's 31 games, including eight SEC contests.

Lewis' foot had been bothering him for some time, and it finally got so unbearable he had an X-ray done, and a break was found. He did not play in MSU's final three regular season games.

This raises the question: Now what? A big concern this season has been the number of minutes logged by senior center Jarvis Varnado, but shifting the lineup to play Kodi Augustus some at the five spot has helped alleviate that problem somewhat. Will we see more of 7-1 freshman John Riek? Awfully tough spot to put the kid in, considering his rawness and inexperience.

Looks like the Bulldogs, who open SEC Tournament play at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow against either Auburn or Florida, are just going to have to suck it up.