Levance Fields has fractured foot

University of Pittsburgh junior point guard Levance Fields will miss the next eight-to-12 weeks of the 2007-08 men's basketball season due to a fractured fifth metatarsal in his left foot suffered in Saturday's game at Dayton. Fields will undergo surgery on Monday at UPMC South Side hospital. The surgery will correct the fracture and will be performed by Team Physician Dr. Freddie Fu and Assistant Team Physician Dr. Robin West.

Fields sustained the injury on a drive to the basket during Pitt's Saturday contest at Dayton.

"We're extremely disappointed for Levance," Pitt Head Coach Jamie Dixon said. "Levance has been a leader for us both on and off the floor. We expect him to make a full recovery and return sometime later in the season."

Fields' injury is the second sustained by a Pitt basketball starter in the last week. It was determined that senior forward Mike Cook will miss the remainder of the season after he tore his ACL during the overtime period of Pitt's 65-64 victory over Duke at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 20. Additionally, redshirt freshman Austin Wallace was sidelined for the season after he fractured his patella in a practice prior to Pitt's win at Washington on Dec. 8. Pitt is now down to nine scholarship players on its roster.

A 2006-07 All-Big East selection and two-time Bob Cousy Award candidate, Fields is in his second year as Pitt's starting point guard. Through Pitt's first 12 games, Fields is averaging 11.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game. He currently ranks fifth among Big East leaders in assists and second in assist:turnover ratio (2.83). He has started 49 consecutive games at Pitt. Over his 82-game, three-year collegiate career, Fields has averaged 8.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. He currently ranks 13th on Pitt's all-time career assists list (307) and owns the school's career record for assist:turnover ratio with a current 2.36 mark.

Last week he was named the ESPN.com National Player of the Week and Big East Player of the Week after he scored 21 points and hit a game-winning fadeaway 3-pointer with 4.7 seconds to defeat Duke.

Pitt (11-1) is back into action on Wednesday, Jan. 2 against Lafayette at the Petersen Events Center. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. on ESPN-U.