The 2022-23 Kentucky basketball season begins with three key Wildcats on the sidelines
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Game day: No. 4 Kentucky 95, Howard 63
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Monday night’s men’s basketball season opener between Kentucky and Howard in Rupp Arena.
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Kentucky started the 2022-23 college basketball season short-handed Monday night.
As expected, reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe will remain sidelined for UK’s regular-season opener against Howard University as he continues to recover from a preseason knee procedure.
The Wildcats will also play without starting point guard Sahvir Wheeler and key forward Daimion Collins.
Those developments leave the Wildcats with just eight scholarship players Monday night.
UK Coach John Calipari prepared fans last week for Tshiebwe’s absence, saying after the team’s final exhibition game against Kentucky State that he would be “stunned” if the Kentucky star played in the season opener against Howard.
Calipari also said at the time that he would be “somewhat surprised” if Tshiebwe plays against Duquesne on Friday night, noting that — if the UK star is on the court — he would play him only 10-15 minutes. “Just to get his legs under him,” Calipari said.
The Wildcats are expected to face their first major test of the season Nov. 15 against Michigan State in the Champions Classic in Indianapolis. Five days after that, they are scheduled to play No. 2 Gonzaga in Spokane.
Tshiebwe participated in some portions of pregame warm-ups with his teammates, but new UK analyst Cameron Mills said on the pregame radio show Monday night that — as of Sunday — Tshiebwe had not started practicing with the Cats yet.
He underwent an Oct. 13 procedure on his knee — dubbed “minor” by Calipari at the time — and missed the entirety of UK’s preseason exhibitions as a result. He was off crutches by the following week and appeared to be moving fine during the team’s pregame activities last week.
“He’s working every day. He’s been rehabbing, he’s been in the gym, and he’s doing some things,” UK associate coach Orlando Antigua said Sunday afternoon. Antigua added that he thought Tshiebwe would be a “game-time decision” for Monday night, perhaps a sign that his return is indeed not too far into the future.
Wheeler went down with a knee injury in the second half of UK’s exhibition opener against Missouri Western State on Oct. 30, and Calipari confirmed after that game that the All-SEC point guard had injured the same knee in practice a couple of weeks earlier, keeping him sidelined for a few days and preventing him from playing in the program’s Blue-White Game in Pikeville.
He sat out Thursday night’s exhibition game against Kentucky State. Wheeler was on the Rupp Arena court but did not participate in any basketball activities before the game Monday.
Collins is still away from the team following the unexpected death of his father, Ben Collins, last week. The UK sophomore flew home to be with his family Thursday and missed the Wildcats’ final exhibition game.
There is no exact timetable for Collins’ return to the court. Calipari said before Monday’s game that Collins was expected to be back in Lexington later that night and rejoin the team for a few days.
There will be a private ceremony for Ben Collins on Friday, with funeral services scheduled for Saturday in the family’s hometown of Atlanta, Texas. Collins’ father was 43 years old.
“I told him, you know, you take what you need to take, how much time you need to take,” Calipari said Thursday night. “We’ll hold the fort down for you.”
Kentucky has been playing short-handed with those three players out. The Wildcats obviously hope to be back at full strength soon, but, in the meantime, it has provided additional playing time for some players who otherwise wouldn’t be getting nearly as many minutes on the court.
“It’s given an opportunity for other guys to step up and show what they can do with those opportunities,” Antigua said Sunday. “And that’s what you want. It’s a team. Injuries are part of what happens in the course of a season, and that also allows an opportunity for guys to continue to work on their game, and now go out there and demonstrate that they deserve and should use that opportunity for more playing time.”
This story was originally published November 7, 2022 at 5:51 PM.
