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Mark Pope gives injury updates on Lamont Butler, Kerr Kriisa ahead of South Carolina game
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Mark Pope told reporters on Thursday that Kentucky guard Lamont Butler is slated to return to non-contact practice and is progressing from a shoulder injury that has sidelined him for the Wildcats’ last 3 games. Pope said the team would “vibe it out” with regard to his status but didn’t have any sort of concrete timeline for a return.
Butler last played on Jan. 27. Without him, Kentucky won at Tennessee by 5 points but has lost consecutive games to Arkansas and Ole Miss by double-digits. The Wildcats have missed Butler’s on-ball playmaking and defending in recent games. Butler leads the team in assists (4.8 per game) and steals (1.8) this season.
“I would like to get him back in a position where we have the best chance of not having another setback,” Pope said. “I don’t exactly know what that’s going to be. We’re kind of taking in the data every day as it comes and kind of making game-time decisions every day on what the next step is. But he is going to be on the court in a non-contact situation (Thursday) and we’ll see how that feels.”
Kentucky (15-7, 4-5 SEC) has lost 4 of its last 5 games following a 14-3 start. The Wildcats are sitting eighth in the cut-throat SEC standings. They return home to host South Carolina on Saturday. UK hosts Tennessee for a rematch on Feb. 11.
Pope also offered an update on point guard Kerr Kriisa, who has not played since Dec. 7. Kriisa broke his foot against Gonzaga and was in a walking boot until mid-January.
On Thursday, Pope said Kriisa isn’t yet doing anything “active” on the court but said he’s “much more active” in the weight room and in the training room.
“The next step is just to see what that response is. It’s a matter of how quickly and if he can get over the soreness in that step, and then it’s a matter of getting on the court to do some light things on the court,” Pope said. “It’s complicated, not (a) great blood-flow bone so that part is — there’s no magic wand to it.
“… He’s still limited to the training room and the weight room. At some point, when he meets those pain threshold benchmarks he’ll move onto the court and start a light process there. And then it’s kind of rediscovery about seeing how much can he handle, how quick’s the recovery. You’re always wondering what does it feel like the next day?”
Saturday’s matchup between Kentucky and South Carolina is slated to tip at noon ET on ESPN2.
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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.
