Miller: Horne talking about being out until February
by Anthony Gimino on Dec. 21, 2009, under SportsArizona junior forward Jamelle Horne could be out until February because of a foot injury, Wildcats coach Sean Miller said after an 83-82 overtime home victory against Lipscomb.
“I know he has talked about February,” Miller said. “I have to get on the same page and talk to the doctors and talk to (trainer) Justin (Kokoskie) and see where we go from there.”
That “February” news came so out of the blue that most everyone in the postgame press conference figured Miller had misspoke and meant January. He was asked directly about that.
“February,” Miller answered. “That is what Jamelle said and we’re going to see if that’s the case.”
Miller isn’t the most forthcoming about injury news and initially said Horne was suffering from an ankle injury. Miller checked with sports information official Richard Paige, who said that Kokoski was saying it was a mid-foot injury. Miller said there was no stress fracture.
In any case, Horne’s right foot was in a boot Monday night.
Horne, a junior, is the team’s third-leading scorer (11.1 points) and leading rebounder (8.1). Freshman center Kyryl Natyazhko started last night, pushing Derrick Williams to power forward.
Natyazhko wasn’t much of a factor, but backup Alex Jacobson was, hitting three key baskets in the second half.
“We needed every one,” Miller said.
Williams scored 13 points and had nine rebounds in 33 minutes. He was only 7 of 14 from the line.
“Derrick Williams played more ’4′ tonight than he has in the nine other games combined,” Miller said. “We asked him to do a lot and he did the best he could, but, clearly, we just don’t look very good. And that is what an injury can do to you.”
And, suddenly, it appears as if Horne’s foot/ankle injury could be a long-term thing — the Wildcats will have played nine Pac-10 games before February.
“He is just like Nic (Wise),” freshman guard MoMo Jones said of Horne. ‘He is sort of like the heart and soul of our team. Without him, we lack some things, but as a team we just had to come together and put it together, and that’s what we did.”
The upcoming opponents, though, will be tougher than Lipscomb.
