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Lamont Butler status up in the air ahead of SEC Tournament quarterfinal vs. Alabama
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Lamont Butler left Thursday’s win over Oklahoma in the first half after appearing to re-aggravate a shoulder injury. His status for Friday’s SEC Tournament quarterfinal game against Alabama is considered to be questionable.
With 9:35 to go in the first half, Kentucky’s point guard exited the game and was seen having his left shoulder worked on by the Kentucky training staff on the sideline. He went to the locker room and did not emerge again until later in the second half, later being ruled out for the remainder of the game. Kentucky closed out the victory without him, but the potential for an extended absence seemed to be on everyone’s minds after the game.
Head coach Mark Pope said Kentucky would get imaging done on Butler’s shoulder and it would know more on Friday.
“I’m praying like crazy — I will be — that he can find his way back on the floor at some point this year. It just doesn’t seem fair,” Pope said. “And this is not a fair game. I’m not saying that. But, man, I would like so badly for him to be able to step on a court again. We’ll see how it goes. We’ll see.”
Butler had 2 points and 3 assists in 8 minutes.
Thursday’s contest was his fifth straight game back after missing several weeks. In 24 appearances this season (all starts), Butler averaged 11.5 points with 4.3 assists. His point production marks a career-high. He also leads the Wildcats in assists.
Should Butler miss time, Kentucky will be significantly shorthanded in the backcourt. The Wildcats are already without Kerr Kriisa, who was shut down for the season because of an injury suffered back in December. The Wildcats also lost Jaxson Robinson for the year because of a wrist injury.
Without Butler, a larger playmaking burden will likely fall on big man Amari Williams (3.1 assists per game) and guard Otega Oweh (1.7 assists). Freshman guard Travis Perry started 3 games earlier in the season when Butler missed time. Fellow freshman Collin Chandler played 22 minutes on Thursday in relief of Butler.
When Pope was asked if he’d shut down Butler for the remainder of the SEC Tournament to get him ready for March Madness, Kentucky’s head coach seemed torn.
“I mean, I’m not going to put him in harm’s way, for sure,” Pope said. “It’s hard because this matters. It’s hard to explain. When you walk into this arena and you finish a game like that, and the whole game you see all these people. These Kentucky fans — it’s an arena full of Kentucky fans — and most of these Kentucky fans probably have never been able to go watch a game at Rupp Arena because they can’t get in. So they save and plan for a year to come here and do this. …
“So there’s just this massive pull of our guys. Like, this is our family. We want to take care of them. We want to perform for them. We want this to be great and special for them. You’re also thinking about the NCAA Tournament. So this is real for us. This matters for us. The NCAA Tournament obviously matters for us. And so we’ll just figure it out the best we can. We’ll make the best decisions for Lamont that we can.”
Kentucky’s game against Alabama is slated to tip off at 9:30 p.m. ET on SEC Network. The Crimson Tide are a 7.5-point favorite at DraftKings. (SDS has a DraftKings Kentucky promo code for new users.) The winner will advance to the semifinals on Saturday and face either Florida or Mizzou.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
