No. 3 UCLA was not kind to then-No. 11 Arizona, and the UCLA Medical Center was not kind to Marcus Williams. The UA forward spent “”three hours”” there Friday waiting for an X-ray on the left wrist he re-injured late in the first half of Thursday’s game at USC, according to UA head coach Lute Olson.
Olson said “”there was some concern that there might be something broken,”” but Williams’ X-ray turned out to be negative.
The experience at the medical center also turned out to be negative.
“”Don’t ever go to UCLA’s medical center,”” Olson quipped.
The positive news on Williams’ wrist, which Olson deemed a “”sprain,”” made up at least in part for the long wait.
Still, Olson said he discussed the matter with former UCLA forward Don MacLean. MacLean told Olson he once left the center to go to his personal physician after getting hurt in a pickup game, not wanting to endure the wait.
Williams had 19 points and eight rebounds against USC, playing the second half with an injury he said bothered him.
“”As badly as he sprained that, it took a lot of courage on his part to play the way he played the rest of that game,”” Olson said. “”He’s been one of our toughest competitors right now.””
Brielmaier may practice this week
Forward Bret Brielmaier, who’s been out since injuring his right knee prior to the Washington game Jan. 4, may practice on Thursday or Friday, Olson said.
UA trainer Justin Kokoskie put Brielmaier through running drills, but the chance of him playing this week is a “”long shot”” according to Olson.
Instead, Brielmaier’s “”best chance”” is to play next weekend, when the Washington schools come to Tucson.
“”We’re just happy with Bret’s case, it wasn’t season-ending,”” Olson said.
Walters in the snow
For a long time Kirk Walters was never shocked to see snow outside in the winter. But when the Michigan native walked outside Sunday, he was “”surprised”” by what he saw.
“”It snows here like once every like 57 years or so,”” Walters said. “”I actually had shorts on yesterday. I thought maybe it’d warm up every second and I could walk around.””
Walters didn’t waste any time, though.
“”I was making snowballs and watching people walk out of apartments and then throwing snowballs at them from 50, 60 feet away,”” he said.
The senior center, who’s still battling mononucleosis, is all but certain to apply for a redshirt after the season. Walters said doctors told him the illness could last for “”five to six months.””
For the most part, Walters feels “”relatively normal right now.””
But doing basketball-related activities comes much tougher.
“”As soon as I start running, my legs are heavy,”” he said. “”I’m breathing a ton harder than I was, and it’s frustrating.””
And even if he got betterquicker than expected, Walters doesn’t want to step on any toes.
“”If I did get better and I could come back it’d be tough because we have had such good chemistry this whole season, and I wouldn’t want to disrupt that,”” he said. “”I want to help, but at the same time if I come back, it’d take me a while to get back from a bad situation.””
