High Risk Drinking
a victim
never to be
to not have your property
to a room
Injury
sidelines
Arizona’s
Woods
By Bob Baum
The Associated Press
TUCSON, Ariz. — A back in
jury likely will keep Loren Woods
out of fourth-ranked Arizona’s
game against Arizona State on
Saturday and the 7-foot center
could be out longer.
Coach Lute Olson won’t divulge
specifics about Woods’ condition.
The athletic department issued
a statement Wednesday that
Woods has “back problems and is
currently receiving further con
sultation and treatment from UA
team physicians.”
The Tribune, a newspaper serv
ing suburban Phoenix, quoted
what it called a source familiar
with the Arizona program as say
ing the university would an
nounce Wednesday that Woods
would be out for the season.
That didn’t happen, and Olson
said no determination had been
made on how long Woods would
be sidelined.
“Obviously the thing is going to
be if there was any chance of fur
ther damage,” Olson said. “Then
he’s not going to play if that’s the
case.”
Woods, a junior transfer from
Wake Forest who is Arizona’s
leading scorer at 15.6 points per
game, is the latest casualty for a
team that has continued to win
despite losing players to injury,
illness and defections. He leads
the Pac-10 in blocked shots at 3.9
per game and tied an NCAA
record with 14 blocks against Ore
gon Feb. 3.
If Woods doesn’t play, the Wild
cats, wdio have a half-game lead
over Stanford in the Pac-10 at 12-1
and are 23-4 overall, will be down
to six scholarship players.
Olson said Woods’ back started
bothering him in Arizona’s 82-55
victory at Arizona State on Jan. 26.
Woods didn’t practice the past
two weeks. He played in last
Thursday’s 92-85 victory over USC
but obviously was not as mobile as
usual. He was a last-minute scratch
Saturday against UCLA, a game
Arizona still won easily 99-84.
Arizona could have starting for
ward Richard Jefferson back for
next week’s trip to Oregon State
and Oregon.
The 6-foot-7 sophomore for
ward was averaging 12.2 points
per game when he broke his right
foot in a victory at Stanford on
Jan. 8.
He looks very good, Olson
said. “Monday morning he’ll be
X-rayed and if it’s as they expect it
to be, then he’ll be cleared for full
practice Monday afternoon. The
amount of time he would play on
the Oregon trip would depend on
how his conditioning is in a prac
tice situation. But that’s looking
very, very good at this point. ”
The Wildcats said Woods’ in
jury can be used as inspiration.
“He’s dying to get out there,”
Justin Wessel, a 6-foot-8 center
who replaces Woods in the line
up. “He’s been playing with it for
almost a month now. That just
shows you how dedicated he is.
That really inspires us because
he’s out there playing hurt. Some
of us might have bumps and
bruises but he sacrificed so we do
also.”