Arizona forward Stone Gettings out vs. St. John’s as he recovers from concussion

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Stone Gettings will travel with the Arizona Wildcats to San Francisco but will not play vs. St. John’s on Saturday, head coach Sean Miller told reporters Friday.

Miller said the senior forward is doing non-contact practices with a face mask and remains free of concussion symptoms. The hope is that he can return to action on Jan. 4 when Arizona hosts Arizona State to open Pac-12 play.

Gettings has been out since Nov. 29 when he suffered a concussion and facial fracture in a win over Penn.

“I think his face, his cheekbone, his eye is not 100 percent but it looks a lot better,” Miller said. “Swelling is done and we are about three weeks from when he sustained the injury so when we get back from Christmas he’ll be a month, and he’s moving in the right direction.”

Arizona could use Gettings’ ability to space the floor and hit perimeter shots. A 35 percent career 3-point shooter, the Cornell transfer is the team’s sweetest-shooting big man.

With this being Gettings final year of eligibility, Miller said Gettings “clearly wants to play” but head injuries have to be managed carefully, hence Arizona’s cautious approach.

“It’s really not up to him. It’s up to symptoms and giving him the most time to recover and being smart, making sure that our medical staff okays him and he’s comfortable and has enough activity under his belt before he returns to the court,” Miller said. “And I believe all that will be in place, and our hope, is that when we get ready to play in the Pac-12 that he’ll be fully recovered 100 percent.”

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