Kentucky point guard Sahvir Wheeler won’t play against Vanderbilt as recovery continues
Kentucky point guard Sahvir Wheeler will remain sidelined for the Wildcats’ game at Vanderbilt on Tuesday night.
Wheeler, who was injured in the opening minutes of UK’s loss to Louisiana State last week, also missed the Cats’ victory over the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday night. He made the trip to Nashville for Tuesday’s game, but he was not in full uniform and did not go through warmups with the rest of the team.
Kentucky Coach John Calipari said on the pregame radio show Tuesday night that Wheeler was able to run some earlier that day but did not practice Monday, which he said over the weekend was a prerequisite for playing against Vanderbilt. UK radio announcer Tom Leach said on the pregame show that Wheeler was moving around well Tuesday and expressed optimism that he could return to the court soon.
Calipari has said that Wheeler is “day-to-day” with a neck injury suffered in the loss to LSU. In that game, Wheeler ran into a blindside screen set by Tigers center Efton Reid, fell to the court and remained on the floor for several minutes before walking off to the UK locker room with assistants from team trainers. LSU defeated Kentucky 65-60.
Freshman guard TyTy Washington also missed the final minutes of the LSU game with an injury, but he was back in the starting lineup against Georgia on Saturday night. Washington set a school record with 17 assists in that game, his first start as UK’s primary point guard. He will return to that role in Wheeler’s absence Tuesday.
Wheeler, who led the Southeastern Conference in assists last season at Georgia before transferring to UK in the summer, is averaging 9.6 points and 7.3 assists per game. He is once again leading the SEC in passing.
Veteran guard Davion Mintz will take Wheeler’s spot in the UK starting lineup Tuesday night alongside Washington, Kellan Grady, Keion Brooks and Oscar Tshiebwe.
Calipari started junior forward Jacob Toppin on Saturday, but he hinted after the 92-77 victory over Georgia that he would return to a three-guard lineup moving forward.
“I liked Jacob and Keion in together, but I’m not sure I want to start that lineup,” he said. “I kind of like where we’ve gone with three guards. We’ll just see.”
Calipari said that Mintz was “outstanding” off the bench against the Bulldogs, and he ended up with 19 — making five three-pointers — in 30 minutes of action. Mintz will also serve as the primary point guard while Washington is out of the game, though the freshman played 37 minutes Saturday.
Mintz was UK’s leading scorer last season, but he’s been a reserve in all 12 games he’s played in this season following the summer additions of Wheeler, Washington and Grady.
Mintz started 79 games over three seasons at Creighton before transferring to Kentucky for the 2020-21 campaign, starting 20 of 25 games last season. This will be his 100th career college start.
Wheeler’s next opportunity to return to the UK lineup will come Saturday afternoon, when Kentucky hosts No. 22 Tennessee at Rupp Arena.
This story was originally published January 11, 2022 at 6:37 PM.
