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Wright regrets trying to play through pain
Freshman hid his ankle injury from coaches for a time; an X-ray on Monday revealed only a sprain.
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
DAYTON — Chris Wright knows injuries are part of the game. The next time he has one, though, he's going to inform his coaches a little sooner.
The University of Dayton freshman forward has been hobbled by a sore ankle and sat out Saturday's game against Loyola-Maryland. But an
Extras
X-ray Monday revealed the injury is only a sprain, and Dr. Tim Quinn, the team physician, expects Wright to be at full strength for the showdown Saturday against No. 6 Pittsburgh.
"He's doing great. His X-ray was normal. ... He's probably 90-plus percent right now," Quinn said.
Wright was injured a couple of weeks ago — he's not sure how it happened — and tried to hide the ailment from the staff as long as he could.
"I'd be walking around, and they'd say, 'Why are you limping?' And I'd say, 'I'm not limping,' " Wright recalled.
"I should have gotten it treated earlier. It's something I'll learn from. I didn't say anything or get treated as much as I could have. It was my fault. I was just trying to be a tough guy about it. But little injuries like that can become serious."
He finally admitted something was wrong before facing American University last week and had a subpar game while playing with an ankle brace, finishing with six points (about seven below his average) and a season-high four turnovers.
"It was just really bothering me and would hurt if I tried to push off or change directions too much," Wright said. "I watched some film and saw how I was limping around and falling down. I looked like a newborn giraffe out there."
UD has been off since Saturday and won't practice again until Wednesday, and Wright doesn't plan to do anything strenuous until then.
The Flyers have the 28th-most votes in the Associated Press Top 25 this week and could make their first appearance in the poll in four years with a win over undefeated Pitt, which is coming off a one-point win over Duke in Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
Pitt senior forward Mike Cook suffered a season-ending knee injury in that game. He was averaging 10.4 points and had made 48 consecutive starts for the Panthers.
Next Game
Who: No. 6 Pittsburgh (11-0) at Dayton (10-1)
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WHIO-AM (1290),
WHIO-FM (95.7)
