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Georgetown’s Chris Wright breaks his hand in a loss to Cincinnati

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Georgetown’s 58-46 loss to Cincinnati was not the most significant outcome from Wednesday night at the Verizon Center.

Chris Wright, the Hoya’s senior starting point guard, suffered a broken left hand five minutes into the second half when he landed awkwardly underneath a Cincinnati player. He was taken back into the locker room where he got the hand wrapped and tried returning to the game.

He lasted all of one possession, when simply catching a pass left him doubled over in pain.

“He’s tough, he’s a tough kid,” Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. “He could play with one hand if he had to. One trip up and down the court, you could see, he was in excruciating pain. For him to ask if he could come out, you could tell he was in excruciating pain, because he’s as tough as they come.”

While it looks bad right now, I urge Hoya fans to look at Christian Watford’s player profile before they throw in the towel on this season. Watford broke his non-shooting hand on January 30th and underwent surgery to repair it. He was back in the Indiana lineup on February 12th. He missed three games.

Based on what we know, this may not be a season-ending injury Wright.

But for whatever amount of time Wright is out, his absensce will be a devastating loss for the Hoyas, who already had to break out of one slump earlier this season.

Its been no secret that for the past two seasons, as Chris Wright goes, so goes Georgetown. While his scoring has been down this year, he’s excelled as a playmaker and a facilitator for the Hoyas. My opinion of Wright is as inconsistent as his production, but doesn’t change the fact that this is a devastating loss for the Hoyas.

Freshman Markel Starks and sophomore Vee Sanford will be forced to see a bump in minutes at the point. Playing limited roles, both Starks and Sanford have had their moments this season, but they average a combined 4.2 ppg in 15.2 mpg. Another option that JT III has is to allow Jason Clark and Austin Freeman to split the ball handling duties while sliding Hollis Thompson in at the three. Its a less-than-ideal situation, as neither Clark or Freeman are point guards, but it may be a better option than trying to prepare Starks or Sanford for heavy minutes with two games left before the Big East Tournament.

The good news? Georgetown’s offense can be molded to fit a lineup without a creator. JT III runs a system that isn’t geared towards isolation and isn’t designed for a point guard to dominate the ball. It is a “system” in the truest sense of the word, which will help the team absorb the loss of one player.

But no matter how you slice it, losing Wright for any number of games will hurt Georgetown, their seeding, and their prospects in March.

You can only hope that Wright will be able to return before the season ends.

It would be a shame to see his career end like this.