UConn's Paige Bueckers to return from knee injury Friday

Paige Bueckers is back.

The reigning Wooden Award winner will return to the court for UConn on Friday in a game against St. Johns, the school confirmed on Thursday after multiplereports.

Bueckers has been out since sustaining an anterior tibial plateau fracture and lateral meniscus tear in the final minute of a game on Dec. 5. The non-contact injury ultimately required surgery that sidelined the point guard for eight weeks.

Before the injury, Bueckers had been averaging 21.2 points, 6.2 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game while shooting 56.3 percent from the field, an improvement across the board from her freshman season in which she was the consensus National Player of the Year.

In Bueckers' absence, UConn went 15-4, but with some strong results lately. The Huskies have won their last five games by an average margin of 30.4 points. Bueckers won't have much time to find her form though, with only two games remaining in the regular season before the start of the Big East tournament in early March.