Xavier’s Freemantle to undergo surgery on foot

Xavier star huge male Zach Freemantle will undergo left foot surgical treatment on Tuesday and won’t return this season, the school revealed Sunday.Freemantle hasn’t played since Jan. 28 due to a left foot injury that was expected to sideline him for around a month. Today’s Big East competition had been earmarked as a prospective return date, however the surgical treatment will end any hope of a return this season.Editor’s Picks A 6-foot-9 senior from New Jersey, Freemantle was Xavier’s second-leading scorer(15.2

PPG)and leading rebounder (8.1 RPG)prior to suffering his injury. He had four double-doubles in his last 8 games while healthy, including a 30-point, 11-rebound, 7-assist efficiency versus Georgetown.Without Freemantle, coach Sean Miller has actually selected a more versatile lineup, inserting Jerome Hunter into the beginning five for the previous 9 games. Throughout that stretch, Hunter is balancing 10.2 points and 6.2 rebounds, and the Musketeers ‘defense has been more consistent.Xavier(23-8 total, 15-5 in the Big East)made the 2-seed in the conference tournament and will play the winner of Wednesday’s Seton Hall-DePaul quarterfinal matchup.