Wright and Georgetown await USC/VCU winner
Chris Wright didn’t take long to test out how well he’s healed from his broken left hand.
Wright, in his first action back with Georgetown on Monday after missing three weeks, took a spill and braced the fall with his hands, causing everyone inside McDonough Gymnasium to hold their breath.
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“Everybody stopped for a second, and it got quiet in the gym,” fellow senior guard Austin Freeman said prior to the team’s departure from campus Tuesday afternoon. “But he got back up, and we got back to practice.”
The Hoyas (21-10) won’t find out who they play in Friday’s second round of the NCAA tournament in Chicago until late Wednesday night, but Wright knows whether they face USC (19-14) or VCU (23-11), he’s going to have to deal with physical contact. After going through two practices, in which he said he shot layups, stole the ball and played normally with the same left hand that underwent surgery on Feb. 24, he doesn’t plan to have it wrapped.
| NCAA tournament |
| No. 6 Georgetown vs. No. 11 USC/VCU |
| When » Friday, 9:50 p.m. |
| Where » United Center, Chicago |
| TV » TNT |
“My mother’s not worried about it,” Wright said. “If my mother’s not worried about it, I’m good. … I didn’t want to get hit. But yeah, it’s going to happen in the games so I’m not going to act different about anything and play my game.”
After losing four consecutive games without him, including the Feb. 23 loss to Cincinnati in which he was injured, Wright’s return helps the Hoyas on multiple fronts.
“More easy shots,” was Georgetown coach John Thompson III’s succinct way of describing Wright’s impact.
But Wright also gives the Hoyas a shot of much-needed confidence.
“We’re doing the same things,” said senior forward Julian Vaughn, who endorsed Wright’s shooting and left-handed dribbling. “But it’s just good to have one of our vocal leaders back, and he definitely has a presence that was lacking when he was out.”
The closer Wright gets to 100 percent, the more Georgetown can turn its attention to meeting its own expectations after overestimating itself in last year’s first-round upset loss as a No. 3 seed to No. 14 Ohio.
“Not to take anything away from Ohio, they’re a good team,” Vaughn said. “They outplayed us, plain and simple. And we just know that, especially me being a senior, this is the last game so I don’t want to go out knowing that I could’ve done something better or played harder.”
