Villanova’s Booth out indefinitely

Top-ranked Villanova will be without junior guard Phil Booth for a while.

The school announced Wednesday that Booth will be out indefinitely with a fractured bone in his right (shooting) hand, an injury he suffered during the second half of the Wildcats’ 89-69 victory over Providence on Tuesday night.

The 6-3, 190-pound Booth, who has started all 20 games for the Wildcats (19-1, 6-1 Big East), averages 11.6 points per game while shooting 43 percent (40for-93) from 3-point range. He ranks second in the Big East behind teammate Jalen Brunson in assist-toturnover ratio (2.5).

“All of us are disappointed for Phil,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “He is one of our captains and the respect for him among his teammates is off the charts. Phil is as mentally tough a player as we have had in our program. We know he’ll come back better and stronger from this.”

A left knee injury limited Booth to only three games last season.

coach Steve mountain of

UCLA Alford has a analytics that spells out his team’s deficiencies on defense. The Bruins’ other recent shortcoming has been harder to quantify but just as significant to a season-worst three-game losing streak.

“I think that’s what’s being challenged here is just how tough we are,” Alford said.

Alford wasn’t referring to effort so much as the toughness of fighting through fatigue with an eight-man rotation while executing the game plan at a high level. The Bruins’ inability to do so has resulted in repeated slow starts and players abandoning the team’s defensive principles, with excruciating results.

UCLA is in the midst of its longest losing streak since a five-game free fall to end the 2015-16 season, leading to a banner being flown over campus calling for Alford’s dismissal. Alford then returned a oneyear contract extension as a goodwill gesture before earning it back with last season’s 31-5 record.

It appeared this season’s Bruins were headed toward a likely NCAA tournament berth before a skid that has left it at 13-7 overall and 4-4 in the Pac-12. News services