West Virginia's Bryant to miss semifinal

By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
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INDIANAPOLIS -- West Virginia's Darryl "Truck" Bryant won't play in Saturday night's national semifinal against Duke, the sophomore guard told ESPN.com Saturday.


Bryant broke his right foot March 23 in a practice leading up to the Sweet 16. Bryant missed the regional wins against Washington and Kentucky in Syracuse, but was hopeful that with a specially made sneaker, he would be able to play against Duke.


But Bryant said Saturday, while he was still wearing a boot on his foot, that he had been having trouble moving from side to side and cutting.

Bryant said he was just hoping the Mountaineers would win so he can try to play Monday in the national championship against Butler or Michigan State.


West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said he wouldn't play Bryant unless he practiced.


"It's not fair to the other guys, you know, if he goes in and goes down, loses the ball, we lose by a point," Huggins said. "It's just not fair to everybody else."

Huggins said he wouldn't change the lineup and would lean heavily on point guard Joe Mazzulla, who scored a season-high 17 points in 30 minutes against Kentucky.


Andy Katz is a senior writer for ESPN.com.