Rick Pitino gives status updates on Tony Hicks, Quentin Snider

Less than 24 hours after what was likely Tony Hicks' best overall performance as a Cardinal, Louisville fans woke up to the news on Wednesday that the graduate transfer was going to be sidelined for the next 6-8 weeks while he recovers from a broken bone in his right hand.

As it turns out, we might not have to wait quite that long to see Hicks back in uniform, at least according to his head coach.

"Good news," Rick Pitino said on 93.9 The Ville Wednesday afternoon. "He was supposed to be out 6-8 weeks with surgery, and now it's no surgery, and 4-6 weeks.

"It's a shame because he finally, in the last two weeks, has understood the point guard position. He hasn't just been coming in and hunting shots. He's been running the team, playing good defense, so it's really a shame that this happened."

As for Louisville's starting point guard, Pitino put to bed any significant hope of Quentin Snider returning to the court in time for the team's Sunday game against NC State. Snider has missed U of L's last three games as he continues to recover from a strained hip flexor he suffered during the team's win over Duke.

"He's probably about 10 days away," Pitino said of Snider. "At the end of this week we'll probably give him some time on the court shooting the basketball, but he's still about 10 days away."

So what does that mean for Louisville's point guard situation on Sunday? Pitino says he'll likely use Donovan Mitchell to run the point on offense, but have redshirt freshman Ryan McMahon defend the point guard spot on the other end of the court. NC State's point guard, of course, is freshman Dennis Smith Jr., the Wolfpack's leading scorer (19.5 ppg) and a likely top five pick in June's NBA Draft.