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Gonzaga guard Luka Krajnovic doesn’t travel with team, misses Sweet 16 game due to non-COVID illness

Gonzaga Bulldogs guard Luka Krajnovic (3) heads to the basket against McNeese State Cowboys forward Christian Shumate (24) during the second half of a first round NCAA basketball tournament game on Thursday, Mar 21, 2024, at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. Gonzaga won the game 86-65. (Tyler Tjomsland / The Spokesman-Review)
By Theo Lawson theol@spokesman.com(509) 459-5584

DETROIT – Fifth-seeded Gonzaga played with a shorthanded backcourt Friday night against top-seeded Purdue in the Sweet 16.

Freshman guard Luka Krajnovic didn’t travel with the team to Detroit due to a non-COVID illness, a school official confirmed to The Spokesman-Review during the first half of the Bulldogs’ NCAA Tournament game against the Boilermakers.

Krajnovic’s absence was first reported by the TBS broadcast crew during Friday’s game.

A 6-foot-5, 185-pound guard from Zagreb, Croatia, Krajnovic played spot minutes during the first half of Gonzaga’s opening-round game against McNeese State, then returned to the floor near the end of an 86-65 victory, finishing with seven points on 2-of-4 shooting from the field and 1 of 2 from the 3-point line.

Krajnovic played just one minute in Gonzaga’s 89-68 victory over Kansas in the Round of 32, recording one rebound and one turnover.

The freshman guard missed a handful of games during the middle of the season with a broken hand, but he returned for a Jan. 30 West Coast Conference game against Loyola Marymount.

Krajnovic was averaging 2.9 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.6 assists in 8.3 minutes per game entering Friday’s NCAA Tournament game.