Sacramento State head coach Brian Katz said point guard Dylan Garrity will play Thursday against Southern Utah, but the amount of minutes he will play remains a mystery.

Currently, Garrity is receiving ultrasounds and electric stimulation treatments for a back injury he suffered Thursday just before the game against North Dakota.

“He definitely looked better today,” Katz said. “He did some shooting and is moving around better. I think it is going to be a gradual thing.”

Garrity did not play at all on Thursday. Saturday, he played just 29 minutes while coming off the bench. 

Despite only playing limited minutes, he still scored seven points and nine assists in the Hornets’ 79-72 win against Northern Colorado. This season he is averaging 12 points and 5.3 assists per game.

Over the past five seasons of playing both college and high school basketball, Garrity said he has had minor back issues before, but not like this one. 

“It’s getting better, slowly but surely,” Garrity said. “Twisting is the worst for it and it also hurts if I am stationary for a long period of time.”

Garrity’s ultrasound and stimulation treatments are being handled by athletic trainer Joe Ramos, who said these treatments are used commonly for this type of injury.

“(In an ultrasound,) it sends a pattern of heat to the back to cause relaxation and causes the capillary system to open to get a fresh surge of oxygen into the blood,” Ramos said. “It’s one of those things that just takes time.”

Garrity is getting two to three ultrasound treatments a day.  When not being treated, he wears an electronic stimulation machine that helps to relieve spasms for about four hours at a time.

“Sometimes athletes want to feel better the next day, but it takes awhile and that is what he is going through right now.” Ramos said. “He has to be patient.”

If Garrity does not play, Sac State has options to help off the bench. Senior guard Julian Demalleville played 35 minutes against North Dakota on Thursday and finished with five assists and zero turnovers. Junior Jackson Carbajal has also contributed, despite seeing his minutes drop recently. He rebounded on Saturday with 9 points in the second half against Northern Colorado. 

“We didn’t win last week without those guys and what they did,” Katz said. “There is no doubt (this is the best bench we’ve had in years.)”

Thursday’s matchup against Southern Utah is the second time the two school’s have met this year. The Hornets won against them at home on Jan. 7, 64-59. 

Tipoff will be at 6:05 p.m. and can be seen on bigskytv.org.

Follow Ryan Kuhn on Twitter at @rskuhn and follow State Hornet sports @sh_sports for news, scores and stats.