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Avila University, an NAIA school in Kansas City, was looking for an NCAA Division I game to play and who better to try to set one up with than a cross-state school with one of the hottest players in men’s college basketball, Robbie Avila.

“I thought it would be really cool to have a Robbie Avila vs. Avila game,� said Avila coach Tyler Bredehoeft, not to be confused with Robbie Avila’s coach, Josh Schertz of St. Louis University. “I thought that headline would be pretty fun for them and also for our guys.�

So through mutual connection, the game was scheduled. But the world got in the way and when the teams meet Sunday at Chaifetz Arena (3 p.m., FanDuel ÁñÁ«ÊÓƵ Network), they will be shy one Avila. This will be the first game Avila, the player, will miss after spraining his ankle in the closing minutes of SLU’s season-opening loss Monday to Santa Clara.

“I actually thought we were playing Robbie’s family,� joked Schertz, “so I was hoping he was actually playing with the boot. I didn’t know this was a college until just recently. We just thought it was kind of a unique deal. They’re close enough to drive, it made sense for them. Man, that would be kind of a fun game. Obviously it stinks that Robbie is not going to be able to play.�

Instead of being a celebration of all things Avila, the game will be a reminder that SLU is missing its showpiece as the team opens its home schedule. Regardless of whether Avila the player is there, the game will be a low-stress way of SLU fixing a few things that didn’t work against Santa Clara and to get the team figuring out how things work without having Avila in the lineup. (Phonetically, the school and the player are different. Robbie Avila pronounces his last name AHVee-luh, while the school pronounces it AHVuh-luh.)

SLU has said Avila will be out “a couple of weeks� with the sprained ankle, though Schertz acknowledged the vagueness is intentional because the team isn’t sure how long he might be out. The last time Avila sprained his ankle, he was off the court three weeks. Will the second one be shorter or longer? They’re not quite sure.

On Wednesday, when the team resumed practice, Avila had his right foot in a walking boot and was using a very long crutch. He sat on courtside chairs for some of practice, with his injured foot resting on one, and stood and watched at other times. Schertz said that the crutch and boot could be gone by Sunday and Avila would move on to the next step of the rehab process.

“Maybe the second time through, it might be quicker,� he said. “Maybe it’s longer than the first time. The biggest thing is making sure: when is he back? And I think there’s a difference between return to play and return to performance. And we want him back where he’s healthy enough to perform and be who he is, and if that means he has to wait a couple more games, vs. just coming back and being able to play, but being ready to perform and feel comfortable, we’ll certainly take every precaution to make sure that when he does return, he’s ready to perform at the level that we all know he’s capable of.�

SLU also will have to adapt its offense to not having its trigger player. Fortunately, or unfortunately, for SLU, Avila has missed enough time because of his two sprained ankles that they’re used to practicing without him.

“I’ve gotten a lot of reps at that trigger spot,� said forward Kalu Anya, “I think we’ll be great for the next game.�

“We don’t have anybody that really does what he does, be the hub of the offense,� said forward Gibson Jimerson, “but we had those five weeks without him so we got used to it a little bit. We’ll kind of fall back on that, make some tweaks.�

And, of course, Avila, which was 4-19 last season but has rebuilt its roster in Bredehoeft’s second season, likely will give SLU plenty of chances to learn on the fly. SLU is without guard Kobe Johnson, who hurt his shoulder last week, but there should be a lot more chances for players to get in the lineup than the eight who saw action against Santa Clara.

“These games are good,� Schertz said. “I know fans aren’t enamored with them, but I think you have to find games that guys can play through mistakes, that you can build depth, that you can play a lot of guys.�