UCLA basketball fans can breathe a sigh of relief. Starter and 3-point shooting specialist David Singleton, who exited Saturday's second-round win over Northwestern with an apparent ankle injury, appears to have just suffered a sprain.
Speaking with reporters following the victory, UCLA head coach Mick Cronin expressed his relief at the fifth-year guard's diagnosis.
"He didn't break his ankle, which I was worried that he did."
Mick Cronin says it appears David Singleton suffered a bad sprain. pic.twitter.com/pzG1Bn0Ew1
â CBS Sports College Basketball đ (@CBSSportsCBB) March 19, 2023
With 20 seconds left and UCLA leading by four with the ball, Singleton gathered an inbound pass and awkwardly planted his left ankle, immediately going down in pain.
He had to be helped off the court, but soon emerged from the locker room to join his teammates back for the handshake line.
Mainly coming off the bench throughout his college career and this season for UCLA, Singleton was inserted into the starting lineup for the Bruins' final regular season game on March 2. That began a stretch of six straight starts for Singleton, five of those being postseason games, including Saturday's win.
Singleton has been a sharpshooter from three his entire college career, shooting over 43 percent from beyond the arc for the Bruins in 163 games.
This season Singleton has appeared in all 36 of UCLA's games, starting 15. He has put up the best numbers of his career in a number of key stats, including points per game (9.1), rebounds (2.8). He's also hit 42.5 percent of his 3-pointers.
Singleton knocked down a clutch three just minutes before he went down with the injury, putting UCLA up six with two minutes left.
The Bruins will face the winner of Gonzaga-TCU in the Sweet Sixteen on Friday. Thankfully for UCLA, David Singleton has a chance to remain in the starting lineup less than a week after a potential season-ending injury.
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