During the Pitt cruising over Cinci, Ashton Gibbs came up limping. He gutted out the rest of the game, so most of us hoped/assumed it was just a charley horse or some sort of minor issue. Well, compared to a torn ACL, it is still minor, but it isn’t a cramp.

Pitt men’s basketball junior guard Ashton Gibbs is sidelined with a left knee MCL injury and will not play at West Virginia on Monday.

Gibbs, the team’s leading scorer at 16.3 points per game, was injured in Pitt’s 71-59 victory over Cincinnati on Saturday. Team officials have not put a timetable on his return, but it’s expected he will be out 10-14 days.

That’s at least two big road games — at the Hoopies tomorrow and at Villanova for the marquee ESPN College GameDay night game.

Best case would be him coming back in time for the home game with USF before the road game at St. John’s. Otherwise, Gibbs might not be back until the home game with WVU.

Regardless, Travon Woodall has to slide into the starting role and more minutes. He and Brad Wanamaker have to pick-up a bit as both have been slumping lately.

The risk/reward of this is the potential for Lamar Patterson and J.J. Moore to see more minutes as well. The two bring more size, length and athleticism on the perimeter. Potentially creating better attacking of the basket along with Gil Brown.

While Gibbs isn’t Pitt’s best defender, he is consistent and does know where to be. Patterson and Moore will have to play tougher, better on the defensive end.