St. John's injury news: Justin Burrell breaks bone in face

A bad break for Justin Burrell.

According to sources, told to me this morning + officially posted by the Daily News, Justin Burrell is out for the Marist game and likely out for the Virginia Tech tilt.

He was hit in the face with an elbow (from Sean Evans) in practice that broke a bone. Not sure how long a player has to be out before he can play with a mask on his face, but expect 4 weeks, which is a long, long time at the beginning of conference play.

Word is Dele Coker will get the start; expect to see a lot of Quincy Roberts and Rob Thomas, and perhaps some 4-guard lineups with Malik Boothe/ DJ Kennedy/ Paris Horne/ Roberts. 

Update from Zagsblog:

St. John’s sophomore Justin Burrell sustained three small facial fractures during practice Thursday and will miss this weekend’s Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden.

"He will be reevaluated next week," St. John’s spokesman Mark Fratto said. "He’s already been fitted for a custom face shield. If things go well with the doctors, he’ll be ready to play with the face shield and he would be back for Miami Dec. 27.

"If it’s determined that he’ll require surgery to correct this, he’ll be out 3-4 weeks."