Playing status of UK basketball’s Cason Wallace, CJ Fredrick revealed for SEC Tournament
READ MORE
SEC Tournament game day: Vanderbilt 80, No. 23 Kentucky 73
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Friday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Vanderbilt at the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn.
Expand All
Kentucky men’s basketball has its starting point guard back.
Star freshman guard Cason Wallace will play for UK men’s basketball on Friday night in an SEC Tournament quarterfinal game against Vanderbilt.
Redshirt senior guard CJ Fredrick will also play for the Cats against the Commodores, while senior guard Sahvir Wheeler remains out following a recent medical procedure.
During UK’s pregame radio show, head coach John Calipari said Wallace would start for the Wildcats on Friday night. Calipari also confirmed that Fredrick would play against the Commodores.
Wallace left UK’s final home game of the season on March 1 with a lower left leg injury and didn’t play in Kentucky’s final regular-season game, a road win at Arkansas.
On Thursday night, Kentucky associate coach Orlando Antigua told reporters Wallace went through a full practice earlier Thursday.
Antigua also said UK wouldn’t necessarily be extra cautious with Wallace during the SEC Tournament, even with the NCAA Tournament looming.
“If he can go, he’s gotta go,” Antigua said. “You want to keep the rhythm going. You want to keep the intensity that your body has to take, playing the minutes that he’s played. And also you want to start loosening up the ankle — or the injury — if you have anything going, you don’t want to wait for that.”
During that same Thursday night meeting with reporters, Antigua said Fredrick — who has played through a rib injury in recent weeks — also went through a full practice with Kentucky on Thursday.
Fredrick suffered a rib injury after a collision with a courtside cameraman during Kentucky’s win over Florida on Feb. 4.
The senior guard played in UK’s next game, a home loss to Arkansas, but then missed the next four games.
Since his return, Fredrick played seven minutes against Auburn on Feb. 25, 28 minutes against Vanderbilt on March 1 and 15 minutes at Arkansas on Saturday, despite being far from 100% healthy.
After that win over the Razorbacks, Calipari praised Fredrick.
“If he did not play, we would not have won the game,” Calipari said. “And he was hurt. And he played anyway.”
Wheeler hasn’t played for Kentucky since Feb. 4, and Friday represents the ninth straight game he’s missed.
Wheeler has missed the bulk of these games with a right ankle injury, but last week Calipari announced Wheeler had a “minor procedure” unrelated to the ankle injury.
Following Kentucky’s final home game against Vanderbilt on March 1, Calipari said it would be a couple weeks until Wheeler could return to game action.
Of course, Kentucky’s injury situation is just one side of the story for Friday night’s game against Vanderbilt.
Star Vanderbilt big man Liam Robbins will miss the rest of the season with a leg injury sustained early in last week’s win at UK.
If Kentucky wins Friday night, the Wildcats will play Texas A&M at around 3:30 p.m. Saturday in the SEC Tournament semifinals.
UK and Texas A&M played once earlier this season, with the Cats winning 76-67 in Lexington on Jan. 21.
The SEC title game is set for 1 p.m. Sunday.
GAME-BY-GAME KENTUCKY STARTING LINEUPS
Here’s a look at the starting lineups that UK has used for all 32 games so far in the 2022-23 season.
The Cats have used 11 different starting combinations.
Howard: Cason Wallace, CJ Fredrick, Chris Livingston, Jacob Toppin, Lance Ware.
Duquesne: Wallace, Fredrick, Livingston, Toppin, Ware.
Michigan State: Wallace, Fredrick, Livingston, Toppin, Ware.
South Carolina State: Sahvir Wheeler, Wallace, Fredrick, Toppin, Ware.
Gonzaga: Wheeler, Wallace, Fredrick, Toppin, Oscar Tshiebwe.
North Florida: Wheeler, Wallace, Antonio Reeves, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Bellarmine: Wheeler, Wallace, Reeves, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Michigan: Wheeler, Wallace, Reeves, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Yale: Wheeler, Wallace, Reeves, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
UCLA: Wheeler, Wallace, Reeves, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Florida A&M: Wheeler, Wallace, Livingston, Ware, Tshiebwe.
Missouri: Wheeler, Wallace, Livingston, Ware, Tshiebwe.
Louisville: Wheeler, Wallace, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
LSU: Wheeler, Wallace, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Alabama: Wheeler, Wallace, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
South Carolina: Wheeler, Wallace, Livingston, Collins, Tshiebwe.
Tennessee: Wallace, Fredrick, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Georgia: Wallace, Fredrick, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Texas A&M: Wallace, Fredrick, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Vanderbilt: Wallace, Fredrick, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Kansas: Wallace, Fredrick, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Ole Miss: Wheeler, Fredrick, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Florida: Wallace, Fredrick, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Arkansas: Wallace, Fredrick, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Georgia: Wallace, Reeves, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Mississippi State: Wallace, Reeves, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Tennessee: Wallace, Reeves, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Florida: Wallace, Reeves, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Auburn: Wallace, Reeves, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Vanderbilt: Wallace, Fredrick, Canada, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Arkansas: Reeves, Fredrick, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
Vanderbilt: Wallace, Reeves, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
KENTUCKY’S WIN-LOSS RECORD BY STARTING LINEUP
Here’s a look at Kentucky’s win-loss record this season by starting lineup for all 32 games.
Lineups are listed in order of total games played.
5-2: Wallace, Fredrick, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
4-2: Wallace, Reeves, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
4-1: Wheeler, Wallace, Reeves, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
2-1: Wallace, Fredrick, Livingston, Toppin, Ware.
2-1: Wheeler, Wallace, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
1-1: Wheeler, Wallace, Livingston, Ware, Tshiebwe.
1-0: Wheeler, Wallace, Fredrick, Toppin, Ware.
1-0: Wheeler, Fredrick, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
1-0: Reeves, Fredrick, Livingston, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
0-1: Wheeler, Wallace, Fredrick, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
0-1: Wheeler, Wallace, Livingston, Collins, Tshiebwe.
0-1: Wallace, Fredrick, Canada, Toppin, Tshiebwe.
This story was originally published March 10, 2023 at 9:10 PM.
