Villanova's Phil Booth out indefinitely with fractured bone in hand
Phil Booth, a redshirt junior who had started all 20 games this season for the top-ranked Wildcats, missed all but three games last season with a knee injury.
Villanova guard Phil Booth suffered a fractured bone in his right (shooting) hand late in Tuesday night's win over Providence and will be sidelined indefinitely, coach Jay Wright announced Wednesday.
Booth, a redshirt junior who missed all but the first three games of last season with a knee injury, had started all 20 games this season. He averaged 11.6 points and shot 43 percent from three-point range, and his 2.5 assist-to-turnover ratio was second in the Big East, behind teammate Jalen Brunson.
"All of us are disappointed for Phil," Wright said in a statement. "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."
The 6-foot-3 Booth, of Baltimore, was the Wildcats' high scorer in the 2016 national championship game, posting a then-career-best 20 points in the 77-74 win over North Carolina.
Booth is the third Villanova player to be sidelined with a broken bone in his hand or wrist this season. Freshman Collin Gillespie broke a bone in his left wrist and missed nine games before returning to the lineup last Wednesday against Georgetown. Freshman Jermaine Samuels broke a bone in his left hand on Dec. 27 against DePaul and hasn't played since.