Gavin Peppers received a warm welcome as he entered the Parfitt auxiliary gym.

"He's back!" sophomore guard Matty Smith yelled.

It was the first time the former Cleveland State transfer participated in team activities since injuring his right leg this past week, going half-court in practice Thursday.

Walking around the facility before warmups, Peppers took a series of jump shots near the 3-point line, choosing not to make sudden movements when dribbling.

"I feel like I'm 100 percent," Peppers said. "I haven't been a practice so this is will be the real judgement of that. I've been running one-on-one's with some of the guys but not full-on five-on-five yet."

The short fallout of Peppers marked the end of injuries not having a significant role for the Chippewas this season, as few have missed time due to health concerns.

Josh Kozinski's wrist problem was a major storyline during the non-conference stretch, missing the annual Maroon & Gold scrimmage in October, as did fellow transfer guard Shawn Roundtree.

Both of whom, however, remain the starters for the 27th consecutive game heading into Saturday's contest at McGuirk Arena against in-state rivalry, Eastern Michigan, a rematch of the Jan. 9 loss in Ypsilanti.

Before the injury, Peppers averaged 6.1 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists for the Chippewas in 15.8 minutes per game. As the seventh man, Peppers played in every game, whose season-high of 14 points came on Dec. 16 against Southern Utah.

"I came down with a rebound and landed on my right heel and that’s when I injured it," Peppers said. "It didn’t seem like that bad of a fall."

Peppers, having formerly played at Olympic College and Laramie County Community College, was seen with a walking boot in Central Michigan's home loss to Buffalo on Feb. 6.

He's been in warmups in the two games since, including last Tuesday's 80-72 road win at Northern Illinois, in which sophomore Kevin McKay scored a career-high 33 points.

"Once (Gavin's) able to go full-court for practice then he'll likely be ready for a game," CMU head coach Keno Davis said. "But until he's able to run up-and-down would he see any playing time."

Peppers was expected to miss two weeks of game action, so the thought of having to miss the remainder of the regular-season or even the Mid-American Conference Tournament never came to fruition.

If that would have been the case, it'd mean the elevation of playing time for guys like Matt Beachler, Matty Smith and Corey Redman. The former played seven minutes against the Zips, which is three less than his season average.

Being forced to sit out isn't unfamiliar for Peppers, who took a medical redshirt at Cleveland State during the 2016-17 season, before making the decision to transfer.

"Once I found out that it was only going to be two weeks I was happy that it wasn't going to be a month or so," Peppers said. "The two weeks definitely felt long but nothing compared to last year."