Another day, another Kentucky injury. Cats lose Nate Sestina.
Graduate transfer Nate Sestina broke his left wrist in a fall during practice and will be sidelined for about three or four weeks, Kentucky Coach John Calipari announced Wednesday.
Sestina broke a wrist when knocked to the floor on a layup attempt, Calipari said in a Twitter post.
“We haven’t been a full team in over a month,” Calipari said. “Nate goes to shoot a layup, it gets blocked, he falls back, goes to stop himself (and) breaks his wrist/hand. He’s out … approximately four weeks. Now we regroup. Next man up.”
In a two-minute video tweet, Calipari spoke of “the ups and downs of basketball.” He said Sestina’s broken wrist is the latest in a series of injuries that have befallen this UK team.
In the preseason, Nick Richards turned an ankle. Then EJ Montgomery missed three games because of an ankle injury. A chest injury sidelined Immanuel Quickley for the Utah Valley game. And Ashton Hagans has played despite “nicks and bruises,” Calipari has said. The team has also been without freshman Dontaie Allen, who is recovering from a torn ACL.
In light of Sestina’s injury, Calipari said, “Now we regroup. Next man up. I kind of get jacked. I’ve got to figure things out.”
Calipari suggested his message to the team would be, “Your coach is saying, bring it. Let’s go.”
Calipari added that the Sestina injury will not generate sympathy for Kentucky. He said no one would be sympathetic, adding, “as a matter of fact, they’re probably happy.”
Calipari did not identify who “they” were.
Sestina, who came to UK from Bucknell, averaged 7.3 points and 7.2 rebounds through the first six games. He had made 12 of 27 shots, including three of 13 three-point shots.
After Sestina scored three points in UK’s victory over Lamar on Sunday, Calipari said the graduate transfer needed attention from the coaches.
“We’ve got to get Nate back to being comfortable and more of a guy that’s, you know, showing who he is,” Calipari said. “Not trying to live up to something because it changes how you play.”
Calipari called on UK fans to increase their support of a team once again short-handed.
“We need our fans now more than ever,” Calipari said. “Coming to games, cheering, picking these kids up. They go on a run that they don’t play well, cheer them (and) get them going. So we’re shorthanded again and your coach is saying, ‘Bring it. Let’s go.’”
Friday
UAB at No. 9 Kentucky
When: 7 p.m.
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: Kentucky 5-1, UAB 4-1
Series: UAB leads 3-2
Last meeting: UAB won 79-76 on Dec. 15, 2007, at Freedom Hall in Louisville.
