Sports: Broken? Just the Rebels

Broken? Just the Rebels

Brent Wright is injured - but not seriously - in UF's 20-point win.

By JOANNE KORTH

GAINESVILLE -- Florida was putting the finishing touches on its biggest SEC blowout when the only source of second-half suspense limped back into the building holding a fresh set of X-rays.

Is it broken?

Is it the screw?

Can you play?

Senior forward Brent Wright, X-rayed so many times this season he could fill a photo album, aggravated his injured right foot Wednesday in No. 7 Florida's 75-55 victory against No. 12 Mississippi at the O'Connell Center.

"Nothing is broken," said Wright, who had a screw surgically inserted in the foot in January to repair a stress fracture. "It's probably just a sprain."

Florida (19-5, 9-4) stayed in the SEC title chase with its dismantling of Mississippi (21-5, 9-4), but may have to face No. 14 Alabama on Saturday without Wright.

Key word, may.

"The screw is in place," UF coach Billy Donovan said. "He has not shattered his foot. He did not rebreak it. He will be questionable for Saturday and it will depend on his pain tolerance. So, really, there is no news."

That's good news for Florida, which has lost three starters for all or parts of the season to injuries requiring four surgeries. Wright missed four games in January with the fractured foot and one last week with a broken right thumb that required two screws to fix.

Wright, who averages 13.7 points and 6.6 rebounds, had just given the Gators a 33-18 lead with 17:46 left in the second half when he went to double-team a Mississippi ball-handler in UF's fullcourt press. He planted his right foot and blew out the seam in his shoe where the upper meets the sole.

Wright sat for a few seconds on the scorer's table before falling and writhing in pain. He was taken to Shands at the University of Florida hospital for X-rays, which showed nothing abnormal.

"He's walking fine," Donovan said. "He's not on crutches. He does not need surgery. If he can practice Friday, he will. If he can play Saturday, he will. If he can't, he won't. We're going to have to wait and see how long it takes for Brent to feel comfortable."

Teammates don't expect that to take long.

"He's had some tough luck this year, but knowing Brent, he'll be back," guard Brett Nelson said. "He's the toughest person I've ever known, and he'll fight through the pain and be back as soon as he can."

Said center Udonis Haslem: "He'll play."

Against the SEC's stingiest defense, Florida shot 50 percent (27 of 54) while holding Mississippi to 36.4 percent. The Gators led 31-16 at halftime, holding Mississippi to six field goals on 27.4 percent shooting.

"We played the game the way they wanted to," Mississippi coach Rod Barnes said. "We didn't control the tempo and we didn't take great shots."

Even when Wright went down, the Gators maintained intensity, building a 43-24 lead with 12 minutes left. The Rebels closed within 57-48 on a 9-0 run, but UF answered with a 7-0 run.

"I thought this was our best defensive effort of the year," Donovan said. "We were disruptive. We were active. We were flying around. We played the way I like to play. We pressed the entire game and our defense won the game for us, even though we shot a high percentage from the field."

Haslem led the Gators with 21 points despite playing with foul trouble. In a game that saw 110 substitutions, Haslem was unfazed at being pulled in and out and made the most of his 24 minutes.

Teddy Dupay scored 14 and Nelson and Matt Bonner 11 each for UF.

Reserve guard Jason Harrison made 4 of 5 three-pointers to lead the Rebels with 20 points. His teammates were 0-for-16 from beyond the arc.