Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

MEN’S BASKETBALL | Wright’s Broken Hand Alters Season’s Complexion

UPDATED: 2/24/11, 11:45 a.m.

In an instant, an entire season can change.

From day one of the 2010-2011 season, It has been obvious that there are two things the Hoyas simply cannot afford to sustain: a serious injury to guard Austin Freeman or a serious injury to point guard Chris Wright. One of those things almost happened when Freeman sprained his ankle against Marquette.

But Georgetown’s other nightmare scenario became reality in an unsightly 58-46 loss to Cincinnati (22-6, 9-6 Big East), when Wright broke his left hand in the fight for a loose ball near halfcourt at the 15-minute mark of the second half.

The captain left the floor after initially trying to play through it and eventually went back to the locker room to have his hand wrapped and taped. Three minutes later, he came back onto the court, but on his first dribble with his left hand, he grimaced in pain, crossed the halfcourt line, made a right-handed crosscourt pass and finally asked for an injury timeout to leave the game. Even though he was playing poorly before hurting his hand — 0-for-6 from the field — losing Wright for a significant period of time is a crushing blow.

“He would play with one hand if he could,” Head Coach John Thompson III said. “One trip up and down the court [after he tried to play through the injury] and you could tell he was in excruciating pain. That’s when the doctor and the trainer came over and said they were pretty sure it’s broken. For him to ask to come out, he’s in a lot of pain because he’s as tough as they come.”

After Wright walked to the bench for the second time, it was clear his injury was serious, as he sat down next to the Georgetown trainer, put his head down for a few moments and then looked back up with tears in his eyes. From that point on, Wright’s teammates looked utterly lost on the court and by the time the final buzzer sounded, the Hoyas had turned in their worst field-goal shooting performance — 25 percent, including 5-of-23 from beyond the arc — in 15 years.

“In the second half they came out playing really hard and we came out playing really flat,” Freeman said. “That’s something we can’t do if we want to win. … At first I thought [Wright] was going to be able to play anyway, but when I saw that he couldn’t do anything and he asked to come out, I could tell something was wrong.”

Despite scoring 15 points in the first half and breaking out of his recent mini slump, Freeman could not make up for the loss of Wright and chipped in only four in the second half. In fact, no Georgetown player stepped up once Wright went to the bench for good. With their veteran point guard absent, the Hoyas had no one to run the offense, and not only did they miss shots, but they could not get anything resembling a good look at the basket.

The only comparatively good news for the Hoyas is the fact that Wright did not break his shooting hand and that after having surgery on the third metacarpal in that hand, he is expected back this season.

For the foreseeable future at least, there is a gaping hole at point guard for a team that has the ability to challenge for a Big East title and make a deep run in the NCAA tournament with a healthy Wright guiding the offense and fueling the perimeter defense.  Regardless of whether Thompson inserts freshman Markel Starks into Wright’s role, if he uses sophomore Vee Sanford as a starter and makes junior Jason Clark the primary ball handler, or if he plays three bigs with Hollis Thompson, the Hoyas go from an elite team to just another team.

With Syracuse coming up on Saturday and a road date with Cincinnati a week later, Georgetown could be looking at a second consecutive 10-8 finish in the Big East, a difficult road in the conference tournament and a plummeting NCAA seed.

Over his career, when Wright does not play well, the Hoyas tend not to play well. Now they’ll have to play without him at all for a crucial stretch of the season.

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