KNOXVILLE – University of Tennessee junior guard Scotty Hopson sprained his left ankle during practice on Tuesday afternoon.
Hopson, UT’s leading scorer at 16.5 points per game, went down writhing in pain and grabbing the ankle. He was taken by the training staff for precautionary X-rays but wasn’t putting any weight on the ankle as he was helped out of Thompson-Boling Arena.
“What he’s suffered is a left lateral ankle sprain,” UT trainer Chad Newman said. “We’re calling it an acute ankle sprain right now. We’re going to do further testing in the morning. I have to give it 24 hours to really tell (because) I can’t really tell much in a couple of hours.
“We’ll treat him a lot over the evening and see how he responds in the morning. He was pretty sore. He’ll be on crutches probably tonight and in a boot for safety’s sake. We have a game in 48 hours, so if there’s a game there we want to give it every chance we can by resting it as much as possible. We hope for the best.”
Tobias Harris, UT’s second-leading scorer, missed his second day of practice with an ankle injury he suffered in the second half of Saturday’s win at Ole Miss. The Volunteers play at Auburn on Thursday.
More details online and in tomorrow’s Times Free Press.