The undermanned Arizona State men's basketball team is likely to be even more shorthanded moving forward but coach Bobby Hurley wasn't quite able to clarify the status of freshman standout Jayden Quaintance, who sustained a knee injury suffered late in the second half of Sunday's 66-54 win over Kansas State at Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas.

Hurley met with the media Tuesday afternoon but said tests are still being done.

"We'll know a lot more tomorrow," Hurley said. "It's a little premature to comment on it. We're dotting our I's and crossing our Ts."

Quaintance was injured driving to the basket with 4:47 left, and ASU was up 57-45. He was down for several minutes and eventually helped to the bench. He did not return and left the arena on crutches.

The injury is unrelated to a sprained ankle that sidelined him for three games. Quaintance, who is averaging 9.4 points and 7.4 rebounds, was just returning from that injury. He made his return a week ago against Houston, but Hurley didn't think he looked right, so he shut him down early.

That appeared to pay off, as Quaintance had a stellar game on Sunday before being injured. He scored 18 points, marking his first time in double digits since managing 15 in a win at West Virginia on Jan 21. He was 8-for-11 from the field, which included a pair of 3-pointers. He also had seven rebounds, two steals, two assists and a block.

The Sun Devils (13-14, 4-12) have four games left in the regular season, the next being a 7:30 p.m. showdown against No. 25 Brigham Young (19-8, 10-6) on Wednesday at Desert Financial Arena. The Cougars are one of the hottest teams in the Big 12, with a pounding of Kansas, followed up by a win over Arizona at McKale Center.

It is just the latest setback for Hurley, who was without another freshman star, Joson Sanon, for five games with an ankle injury earlier this season. Junior center Shawn Phillips missed two games.

Junior Austin Nunez, who would have been the backup point guard, was lost four games into the season due to a foot injury.

Hurley has been operating much of the season with a rotation of eight players. He is down to six now with Quaintance's injury coming the day news broke about leading scorer B.J. Freeman being dismissed from the team after a series of misconduct incidents. Sunday's game was the first ASU played since his departure.

Hurley added that the injuries and the Freeman situation have presented challenges, with the travel schedule in the new conference also being a challenging one. But the coach said his team has not given up.

"The entirety of it has been a lot," he said. "Proud of the group, again on the road, tough environment. We had lost a number of games.

"It would be very easy to mail it in and just show up and play the string out but to the credit of the group they were very committed to playing well in that game and they guarded as well as we played defense in probably a month so it was exciting to see that. They are still battling. Guys are getting better."

Quaintance, 17, isn't eligible for the NBA draft in June. His options include returning to ASU, transferring during the offseason or opting to play in Australia or Europe. He is the youngest player in college basketball by six months over Duke's Cooper Flagg.

Hurley praised the play of Phillips, who has stepped up in the absence of Quaintance at other times this season. The 7-foot center is coming off his first double-double in his two years at ASU as he chalked up 10 points and 11 rebounds with two blocks in Sunday's game.

When Quaintance was sidelined for a game at Colorado, Phillips managed 13 points and eight rebounds in a 70-68 ASU victory.

"I'm excited to see how he's been and he's also been a better leader," Hurley said. "He's controlled himself and his emotions far better so he's really making great progress."

Hurley also praised the play of Amier Ali, the third true freshman on the squad, with Quaintance and Sanon having the higher profiles. Ali scored 11 points coming off the bench on Sunday.

"It's nice to see a freshman not hit a wall and go backwards and get worse but to see a guy developing and getting better as the season goes," Hurley said.