Kahlil Whitney fights on — with a finger popped out of place — to make key play in UK win
One of the biggest plays in Kentucky’s too-close-for-comfort, 82-74 victory over Utah Valley on Monday came from a player who scored just four points and wasn’t on the court for the final two and a half minutes.
Kahlil Whitney started the game for the Wildcats, who were down to seven scholarship players due to injury, but he didn’t finish it. He made his last moment on the floor count.
The freshman forward was fighting for an offensive rebound on his own miss when he immediately grabbed his hand under the basket. As underdog Utah Valley — trailing Kentucky 68-67 with just under three minutes remaining — raced down the court, Whitney fell behind the play, still holding onto his hand in clear agony.
UK Coach John Calipari — seeing his player in pain and a 5-on-4 situation in Utah Valley’s favor — yelled at the trailing referee to stop play, but there was no whistle.
Instead of staying where he was, Whitney ran back down on defense and — after a missed three-pointer by Utah Valley’s Trey Woodbury — the UK freshman fought for the defensive rebound, spilling to the floor in the process. Had he not been there, it would have been a clean putback for the Wolverines, who would’ve taken a one-point lead with a basket at that moment.
Whitney’s fight caused the ball to roll out of bounds, however, and possession was awarded to Kentucky.
As he got up from the court, Whitney leaned down and popped his pinky back into place.
Calipari said he singled out that effort in his postgame talk with Kentucky’s players.
“I talked about that play. I mean, think about it,” he said. “Like, his finger popped out and he went down and tried to rebound that way.”
Whitney immediately went to the UK bench and spent the final 2:31 of the game on the sideline, first getting his finger taped up by a trainer and then cheering on his teammates. After that hustle play, Kentucky scored seven consecutive points to build a relatively safe lead and put Utah Valley away.
Whitney, who was not one of the UK players made available for interviews after the game, finished with four points and five rebounds in 26 minutes.
The Cats played just seven players Monday night after Immanuel Quickley was ruled out with a chest injury suffered in Sunday’s practice. EJ Montgomery missed his third consecutive game with an ankle injury, and freshman forward Dontaie Allen has yet to play for the Wildcats after suffering a torn ACL last December.
UK’s next game is Friday night against Mount St. Mary’s, and Calipari said he wasn’t yet sure of Quickley’s or Montgomery’s status for that one. He also couldn’t say whether Whitney’s injury might keep him out.
“I don’t know yet,” he said. “Let’s hope he doesn’t.”
This story was originally published November 18, 2019 at 11:17 PM.
