LAS VEGAS – Arizona center Oumar Ballo said he broke his left hand Friday against ASU but, after logging 26 minutes Saturday against UCLA in the Pac-12 Tournament final, said he would also play through it next week.
“I will be fine to play in the NCAA Tournament,” Ballo said after UA beat UCLA 61-59 in the Pac-12 Tournament championship game. “I will be fine.”
Ballo wore a black wrap around his left hand that included a splint around his two middle fingers to protect the fracture. He started but sat out the final seven minutes of the first half, then returned to play 16 minutes in the second half, finishing with 13 points and eight rebounds.
“It’s kind of hard, we go through injuries and I didn't want to sit out for this game,” Ballo said. “ I needed to come out and give my body for my team because it's not like every day you wake up and play this type of game."
Ballo, who has been wearing wraps around his right hand since it was banged up in early February, said the injury to his left hand came as a result of blows during the ASU game.
“It was just physical, you know, too much contact,” Ballo said. “As a human being sometimes, it's kind of hard to play through contact every single time.”
After Saturday's game, trainer Justin Kokoskie wrapped ice around Ballo's hand. Ballo said he was grateful to the UA medical staff for preparing him carefully to make sure he could play.
"They did their job to to make sure I'm ready to play this game," Ballo said. "I cannot talk much about the injuries but I did what I had to do to play the game today."
Hear what Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd, guard Courtney Ramey and center Oumar Ballo said after the second-seeded Wildcats avenged their loss to Stanford, beating the Cardinal 95-84 in the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Video courtesy Pac-12
