Iowa men’s basketball forward Jack Nunge will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a torn ACL in his right knee in Iowa’s 85-59 win over Cal Poly on Sunday.

After redshirting last season, Nunge came back with renewed strength and averaged 6 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists as a starter in Iowa’s first five games.

“All of us feel for Jack,” Iowa head coach Fran McCaffery said in a release. “This is an unfortunate setback for a young man who spent countless hours in the gym and weight room last year preparing for this season. Jack has the full support of his teammates and coaches during his recovery.”

Nunge suffered the injury after driving to the basket with 1:13 remaining in the first half.

After getting off to a rough start this season without making a field goal in his first two games, Nunge scored 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds against Oral Roberts on Nov. 15.

In his next game, against North Florida on Nov. 21, he dropped 11 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists, and a steal.

“He’s definitely a big part of what we wanted to do this year,” Iowa forward Luka Garza said.

With Nunge’s injury, Ryan Kriener and Cordell Pemsl will likely see an increased role in the frontcourt.

Kriener stepped up in a big way in Iowa’s loss to DePaul on Nov. 11, garnering 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting and 8 rebounds. He averages 7.6 and 4.6 rebounds in 14.6 minutes per game.

Pemsl missed Iowa’s first game of the season against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville while serving a suspension, but he will now be looked at as an integral piece in Nunge’s absence.

He showed his ability to step up by scoring 10 points against Cal Poly on Sunday.

“[Stepping up is] something that’s kind of been going on for a long time — it’s been a next-man-up mentality,” Kriener said. “… That’s never something you want to see. You never want to see your brother go down hurt.”