Rawle Alkins injury: Arizona Wildcats guard says dislocated finger is ‘fine’, will play vs. Xavier in Sweet 16

Heading into Thursday’s Sweet 16 matchup against the Xavier Musketeers, there’s one question every Arizona Wildcats fan wants to know the answer to.

“I know that everyone in Tucson wants to know what’s going on with the finger,” Rawle Alkins told reporters Wednesday. “But I feel fine and I’m getting better every day.”

Alkins dislocated and fractured his right index finger in Arizona’s Round of 32 win over Saint Mary’s on Saturday, forcing him to miss a large portion of the first half as he got x-rays and treatment on his finger.

Eventually, the freshman returned to the game and was instrumental in Arizona’s 69-60 victory as the Wildcats outscored the Gaels by 13 when he was on the court.

Still, Alkins’ finger was heavily bandaged and Alkins admitted it bothered him when dribbling and shooting. But it’s manageable pain.

“It’s fine,” Alkins said.

Sean Miller said Alkins’ finger remains sore, but he has full range of motion.

“He’s able to catch and shoot, do all those things,” Miller said.

Teammate Kadeem Allen suffered a similar injury a few weeks ago and it forced him to miss two games. Luckily for Arizona, Alkins’ injury is a bit different, so he isn’t expected to miss any time.

“With Kadeem, the hardest part was it popped out of his skin,” Miller said. “That was a really hard situation. But with Rawle, he just had a legitimate dislocation and once it was solid and everything, he was able to go back through it.”

Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star reports Alkins was held out of practice on Monday, but returned to practice Tuesday. Alkins then showed off his dribbling skills Wednesday in Arizona’s open practice in San Jose.

Evidently, the injury isn’t too limiting.

“I’m making sure I’m keeping it moving, not just keeping it stiff,” Alkins said. “I just make it as comfortable as I can.”

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