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Not only did Kadeem Allen have the task of guarding the UCLA Bruins' talented guards in the Arizona Wildcats' comeback win on Friday night, but he had to play through adversity of his own in the process. No, it wasn't foul trouble, or a sore ankle. It's a lingering illness that's weakened him for nearly two weeks now.
"Kadeem threw up three times," Sean Miller said after Friday's game. "Once during the game, once after the game, and once before the game. He has virus that won’t go away and we’re working hard with him and the doctors are [too]."
Miller didn't clarify what the virus was, but simply put it this way: "I don’t know, but I certainly wouldn’t want it."
Understandably, Allen has been struggling while under the weather. Against UCLA, he was limited to just 21 minutes and went 0-3 from the floor while missing four free throws.
"We didn’t really have Kadeem, but he did the best he could," Miller said.
In his last three games, Allen is 2-11 from the field and has more turnovers than assists. Though the 21 minutes he did play versus UCLA is the most he's been on court since contracting the virus, so his condition is improving, at least.
"He says he’s starting to feel better, and we have him on antibiotics, but as you know, it takes time," Miller said. "While he’s doing that, he’s practicing or he’s playing, but he didn’t practice hardly at all, so we’ve been a disaster."
Unfortunately, the medicine Allen is taking has made him feel a bit queasy.
"I think it was more of an upset stomach. The medicine is making him sick, but it’s going on day 12 right now," Miller said. "We always worry about safety and health. We’re not going to put anybody out there unless Justin [Kokoskie], our trainer, would take a look at him."