LOS ANGELES (AP) -Daniel Hackett could miss the rest of the season because of a stress fracture in his lower back, leaving Southern California without one of its top guards.
Hackett also has a partially torn oblique muscle.
“The way it was laid out to me is that there’s a scenario where he won’t play this year,” coach Tim Floyd said this week. “We’re going to approach things like he won’t be out here and be hopeful that he returns at some point. I don’t know when that will be.”
Hackett was diagnosed with a bruised right pelvis after he fell minutes into the Trojans’ loss to Arizona on Jan. 31.
He returned two days after the fall but was clearly not himself playing 18 minutes against Arizona State. Then he sprained his right ankle in a victory at Washington last weekend and was limited to 24 minutes in a blowout loss at Washington State.
Hackett’s numbers dropped significantly after the fall. He averaged 2.3 points in the last three games.
ett’s back was preventing him from beginning rehabilitation, trainer Bobby Walls said.
“There’s no timeframe for him to return,” Walls said. “It could be a week or it could be six weeks.”
Hackett will miss USC’s game against No. 6 UCLA (21-3, 9-2 Pac-10) on Sunday, when the Trojans (15-8, 6-5) will have just three available scholarship guards: freshmen O.J. Mayo and Angelo Johnson and sophomore Dwight Lewis.
Johnson likely will start in Hackett’s place. Hackett was averaging 9.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 30.5 minutes. Johnson has made six starts, averaging 4.4 points and 2.0 rebounds.
“We just got to get better without him,” Mayo said about Hackett’s absence. “He’s upset that he’s hurt, but he needs to get well. There’s no need to aggravate it anymore and lose him for the whole season. Maybe we should have even sat him for the last two games and have him here this game.”
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