Cincinnati can exhale: Cashmere Wright’s injured left knee is just a sprain
Five minutes into the second half of Cincinnati's 75-70 victory at DePaul on Tuesday night, the Bearcats had to be fearing for the worst.
Point guard Cashmere Wright, arguably Cincinnati's most indispensable player, crumpled to the ground with an apparent left knee injury, limped to the locker room and did not return to the game.
Thankfully for the Bearcats, the update on Wright the following day was probably as good as they could have hoped. Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin told reporters tests revealed Wright merely has a sprained left knee and he's considered day-to-day, which means he could be back in time for Saturday's home game against Marquette.
Had Wright been more seriously injured, the timing would have been especially cruel both for him and for Cincinnati.
Wright is in the midst of his best collegiate season and is averaging 15.1 points and 3.7 assists per game. Not only had he scored 23 points in two of his past three games entering Tuesday night's contest, he had 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting against the Blue Demons prior to leaving with his injury.
Without the fifth-year senior in the game for the final 15 minutes, backup points GeLawn Guyn and Jaquon Parker struggled against DePaul's pressure. Guyn and Parker combined for five of Cincinnati's eight second-half turnovers, though the Bearcats were able to keep DePaul at arm's length most of the second half.
Cincinnati will need Wright against the better teams on its schedule, though. And thanks to some good-as-could-be-expected medical news Wednesday, it appears the Bearcats will have him.