Nick Richards leaves Kentucky basketball exhibition opener with injury
Kentucky junior center Nick Richards left the team’s exhibition opener against Georgetown College on Sunday after suffering an apparent left ankle injury. UK announced that he would not return to the game.
Richards, who started Sunday’s game, had four points, five rebounds and one blocked shot in the first half, then hit a shot just 11 seconds into the second half. Less than a minute into the second half, he landed awkwardly on his left foot, turning his ankle and falling to the floor in pain. He stayed on the court for a couple of minutes before being helped directly to the locker room.
UK called it a “lower left leg injury” for Richards and confirmed that he would not return to the contest. Richards did not come back to the UK bench area Sunday, and UK Coach John Calipari said his ankle was “swelled up” in the postgame locker room. Calipari did not have any other immediate update on Richards’ condition.
Kentucky has one more exhibition game — against Kentucky State on Friday night — and will start the regular season Nov. 5 against No. 1 Michigan State.
Richards started just three times last season, but he played in all 37 of the Wildcats’ games, averaging 4.0 points and 3.3 rebounds in 12.1 minutes per game. He started all 37 of UK’s games during his freshman season and is expected to be a major part of this Kentucky team.
The Cats have just two other traditional “bigs” on their 2019-20 roster: sophomore forward EJ Montgomery, who also started Sunday’s exhibition game, and graduate transfer Nate Sestina.
This story will be updated.
This story was originally published October 27, 2019 at 6:25 PM.
