Gophers senior guard Nate Mason is still day-to-day with an ankle injury heading into Wednesday's Big Ten home game against Illinois, Richard Pitino said Tuesday.
Pitino said Mason was able to do shooting drills but not cut and move laterally when working out during shootaround before Saturday's 65-55 win against Harvard.
"Hopefully, he'll do a little more today and we'll see," Pitino said in his news conference. "The more time he has off the better. Today will be a better indicator."
Mason missed his first game since the 2015-16 season when he sat out against Harvard.
Freshman point guard Isaiah Washington would get his third career start if Mason is not cleared to play Wednesday. Washington replaced Mason Saturday and had nine points and a career-best 13 rebounds against the Crimson.
"We didn't want to rush him too much, Pitino added. "I'm hopeful, but we want him 100 percent more than anything."
Mason, who ranks second on the team in scoring (15.5) and first in assists (4.1), rolled his left ankle when he was bumped going for a steal early in the second half of a 95-60 win Dec. 23 against Florida Atlantic.
Pitino said junior guard Dupree McBrayer will definitely play Wednesday against Illinois. McBrayer had a team-high 15 points against Harvard Saturday in his return from a two-game absence with a lower left leg injury.
-- Pitino said Tuesday the Gophers had nine players finish the fall semester with a 3.0 grade point average or better, which was the program's best mark in 20 years.
