If Texas Longhorns point guard Isaiah Taylor didn't quite look right on Monday evening against the Kansas Jayhawks, it was because he wasn't -- head coach Shaka Smart revealed after the game that his junior leader is suffering from plantar fasciitis in his right foot.
On Sunday, Taylor didn't practice after the issue flared up following Saturday's win against the Oklahoma Sooners and wore a walking boot each of the last two days. Against Kansas, he missed his first six shots and finished with only five points on 1-of-10 shooting, arguably his worst performance of the season.
Plantar fasciitis is an injury that is reasonably common for basketball players and results from the inflammation of tissue that runs from the heel to the toe. And the concern with Taylor is that plantar fasciitis can often linger for months -- he will almost certainly have to play through it for the rest of the season.
In fact, it's been something that he's been dealing with for a while:
Smart says Isaiah Taylor's plantar fasciitis has been ongoing, but getting worse. "One of those things where you have to grit your teeth."
— Mike Finger (@mikefinger) March 1, 2016
And while Smart said on Tuesday that Taylor felt better on Tuesday morning that he did before and during the Kansas game, it was bad enough on Monday morning that Taylor couldn't put weight on it.
With senior center Cameron Ridley still recovering from his own foot injury, Texas can't afford to have Taylor limited significantly by his injury, which clearly impacted his performance on Monday evening. The junior is averaging a career-high 15.1 points per game this season to lead the team. He's also the assist leader at 4.9 per game, in addition to leading the team in steals (28) and free-throw attempts (183).