Raivio’s status for next game up in the air

Derek Raivio isn’t making any brash predictions, but Gonzaga University’s junior point guard said Monday night he is hoping to be ready to play in Thursday’s non-conference men’s basketball game against Washington State.

“There’s always a chance,” he said following re-examination of the back bruise he suffered in Sunday’s 99-95 loss to the University of Washington in Seattle. “It’s still a little sore. We’ll just have to wait and see how it goes in practice (today).”

According to Raivio, Monday’s examination confirmed he had suffered deep bruises on his lower back and hip.

The 6-foot-3, 175-pounder from Vancouver took his nasty spill after being fouled on a drive to the basket with 9:41 left in the first half of Sunday’s game and UW leading 29-18. He stayed in the game long enough to make the two free throws he was awarded, but then limped back down the court and took himself out of the game for good following the Zags’ defensive stand.

“I got up and thought I was going to be O.K.,” Raivio recalled. “I could shoot the free throws all right, but then when I ran back down the floor and tried cutting I thought, ‘Oh, oh, this isn’t working.’

“I thought I was going to be able to run it off, but then it was, like, ‘No, this isn’t going to happen today.’ “

Raivio, who led the Bulldogs in minutes played as a sophomore last winter, said watching his teammates doing battle against the unbeaten Huskies without him was one of the most frustrating things he has had to endure as a basketball player.

“It was definitely frustrating,” he explained. “It was tough to watch from the bench and see all of those opportunities you could have made for yourself – looking at all of those open spots where you could have scored or made a pass.

“This was on of those kinds of games you live for – one of those fun, big-time games against a cross-state rival. And it was difficult not being able to be a bigger part of it.”

Raivio went into Sunday’s game averaging 16.4 points and 3.6 assists, but finished with only the two free throws and saw his averages drop to 14.0 and 3.0.

X-rays taken of his injured back during the game were negative, and he said he slept well after returning to campus late Sunday.

“The doctor said I just need to keep off it and keep trying to keep it loose.”

Raivio had 20 family members and friends at Sunday’s game, including his father, Rick, who originally thought his son had sprained an ankle.

“Then I found it was a really, really deep bone bruise,” the elder Raivio said. “He got bit pretty good, but I think he’ll be O.K. in a couple of days.”

If Raivio can’t play against the Cougars, it will leave the Bulldogs without the services of three of their top seven players. Senior forward Erroll Knight remains sidelined indefinitely with an infection in his left knee, and redshirt freshman Josh Heytvelt is expected to miss at least most of the regular season with a broken ankle.

The rash of injuries has depleted GU’s bench to the point coach Mark Few was forced to play two freshman, two sophomores a first-year junior college transfer for longer than he wanted.