Two scholarship players sidelined for Kentucky basketball’s home opener Friday night
Kentucky were without two scholarship players for its home opener against Robert Morris on Friday night.
Junior guard CJ Fredrick and junior forward Jacob Toppin were both sidelined from the game with injuries.
Fredrick, a transfer from Iowa who missed nearly all of the preseason with a leg injury, has a hamstring injury that will push back his UK debut yet again. The Cincinnati native missed both of the team’s preseason games and didn’t play in the season opener against Duke on Tuesday night.
“He’s gonna be out for a minute again,” John Calipari said after the game. “How long? I don’t know.”
Toppin, who is one of the Wildcats’ top reserves this season, is out Friday night with a shoulder injury. The 6-foot-9 forward had four points and six rebounds in 23 minutes in the loss to Duke earlier this week. He averaged 17.1 minutes per game last season.
UK was also without Toppin for the first exhibition game due to a shoulder injury, though he returned for the final preseason game and the Duke loss. Calipari said Friday night that a different part of Toppin’s shoulder was now injured and he would have an MRI on Saturday. He didn’t speculate on a timetable on Toppin’s return.
Sophomore forward Lance Ware played only 77 seconds in the first half, and Calipari said after the game that he was also dealing with an injury, tried to play through it, and they decided not to force it any further.
Kentucky defeated Robert Morris, 100-60, and the Wildcats will return to Rupp Arena to face Mt. St. Mary’s on Tuesday night.
This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 6:59 PM.
