Georgia Tech’s Jose Alvarado to miss remainder of season
ATLANTA (AP) Georgia Tech point guard Jose Alvarado will miss the remainder of the season after fracturing his left elbow.
Coach Josh Pastner said Monday X-rays showed the fracture. The injury, suffered when Alvarado fell on his arm in Sunday's 80-69 loss to No. 9 Duke, initially was described as a dislocated elbow.
Pastner said the fracture will require a recovery period of six to eight weeks, meaning Alvarado also is ruled out for the postseason.
''He's done,'' Pastner said. ''Even if we went on a run and went to the Final Four he wouldn't play the remainder of the year.''
Alvarado is second on the team with his average of 12.1 points per game and had been a durable mainstay in Georgia Tech's lineup. The freshman played every minute in eight games, including the Yellow Jackets' previous four contests.
Alvarado and center Ben Lammers are Georgia Tech's only players to start every game this season. Pastner said Lammers is playing ''on a bum ankle, so it's been a tough year for injuries.''
The loss of Alvarado comes as Georgia Tech (11-14, 4-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) has lost three straight and seven of eight.
Pastner said he hasn't selected a replacement at point guard for Wednesday night's game at Wake Forest.
Freshmen Moses Wright and Evan Cole likely will move into more prominent roles. The two combined for 19 points, 12 rebounds and four assists against Duke, helping the Yellow Jackets cut into the Blue Devils' lead.
Wright and Cole made an impression on Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
''Both played really well,'' Krzyzewski said. ''I mean big-time plays. In this game, Josh probably found something. He found two kids that want to play.''
Pastner said the two freshmen ''were very good'' after giving them ''extra lifting, extra individual skill work, literally treating them as redshirt guys even though they weren't redshirts. I think that extra work paid off and it showed last night and they'll get more time moving forward.''
Top scorer Josh Okogie and Brandon Alston likely will be given more ball-handling duties, but Pastner said the loss of Alvarado will be difficult to overcome.
''We're just going to have to compete and fight and scrap and kick and claw our way back to give ourselves a chance,'' Pastner said. ''We're undermanned but we're going to have to find a way. We're going to have to compete and find a way to give us the best chance.''
---
More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25
