After suffering an ankle injury late in Wednesday's 71-69 loss at Michigan State, Gophers starting center Eric Curry's status for Sunday's game against Iowa remains uncertain.
During his Friday news conference, Johnson said Curry is day-to-day and doing better with his ankle injury. Curry is undergoing more testing, but Johnson said the team still also has to prepare as if he won't play Sunday.
"He's doing good," Johnson said. "I think we avoided anything crazy, crazy, but we're still looking at it day-to-day. If he can go, then he can go. And we'll kind of take it from there."
The 6-9, 245-pound Curry, who has already overcome three major injuries in his career, scored a career-high 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds in 30 minutes against the Spartans.
But the sixth-year senior and captain was carried off the floor with 59 seconds left Wednesday night after landing awkwardly on his lower left leg. He wore a walking boot following the game and first X-rays showed no major damage Thursday.
Johnson said a bad ankle sprain recovery timetable could be 1-3 weeks, but Curry could play sooner if the injury ends up not being to that extent.
"Our trainers do a really good job, and he knows his body better than I do," Johnson said. "My biggest thing is I'm never going to put a guy out there where you could increase the injury or make it worse. If he's out there, then he feels good about it."
The Gophers would be without their top scoring presence if Curry is sidelined Sunday. He's averaging a career-best 10.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 52 percent shooting in Big Ten play. The six double-figure scoring games this year, also included his first career double-double.
