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The Arizona Wildcats will be down a starter when they face the California Golden Bears in Berkeley on Wednesday night.
Rawle Alkins will sit out because of soreness in his right foot, according to Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star.
Rawle Alkins will not play tonight at Cal bc soreness in right foot. That's the one he broke in September but UA says X-rays negative now and he's being held out as a precaution. pic.twitter.com/ZXk9lh7uTO
— Bruce Pascoe (@BrucePascoe) January 18, 2018
As Pascoe notes, that is the same foot that Alkins broke in the offseason which led to surgery and him missing the first nine games of the season.
But apparently Alkins is sitting out vs. Cal for precautionary reasons.
Redshirt sophomore Dylan Smith will make his third start in Alkins’ place. He is averaging 4.3 points per game this season.
This is the first game Alkins has had to sit out since his season debut on Dec. 9.
The Brooklyn native is averaging 14.8 points and 4.3 rebounds this season, though he said Monday that he believes he can do a better job rebounding and taking care of the ball.
He will have to wait until at least Saturday to make those improvements when the Wildcats cross the bay and take on the Stanford Cardinal in Palo Alto.
Wednesday’s game against Cal is scheduled for 7 p.m. MST, and it will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks.
Follow Ryan Kelapire on Twitter at @RKelapire