Kentucky basketball has had a couple of further days off to relaxation earlier than the NCAA Event after getting smashed by Alabama within the SEC match quarterfinals on Friday night time by a rating of 99-70. Throughout that recreation, Mark Pope and firm severely missed level guard Lamont Butler, who was out with a shoulder damage.
Butler re-aggravated his shoulder damage, which has popped up time and again this season, on Thursday towards Oklahoma within the second spherical. Regardless of the troubling nature of the lingering damage, Pope expects Butler to be able to go for the NCAA Event in response to faculty basketball insider Jon Rothstein.
“Kentucky’s Lamont Butler (shoulder) will likely be out there for the Wildcats’ first NCAA Event recreation this week, per Mark Pope,” Rothstein reported on X, previously Twitter.
Butler is Kentucky’s third-leading scorer at 11.5 factors per recreation and is the staff’s main help man with 4.3 dimes an evening, however his influence past the stat sheet is the place the Wildcats miss him probably the most. After he left that recreation towards the Sooners, Kentucky nearly collapsed within the closing minute towards Oklahoma’ s press earlier than an Otega Oweh game-winner put the Wildcats excessive.
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Butler’s absence was a serious cause why Kentucky struggled towards the stress, however his damage compounds a few of its largest issues. Pope and firm are already taking part in with out its different two high choices at level guard after Kerr Kriisa broke his foot and Jaxson Robinson had season-ending wrist surgical procedure. With out Butler, the Wildcats do not have a dependable choice at level guard to lean on.
Butler initially injured his shoulder in January earlier than aggravating the damage in a Feb. 11 win over Tennessee. He returned late within the month, taking part in restricted minutes for Kentucky basketball at first earlier than working his approach again to a full workload for the convention match. He performed simply eight minutes towards Oklahoma earlier than exiting once more.
Kentucky’s seed within the NCAA Event remains to be up for grabs. The Wildcats may realistically find yourself as both a No. 3 or 4 seed, so they may probably want Butler to play within the first spherical towards feisty mid-major squad.