Kentucky is now 0-3 without D.J. Wagner. When can the Cats expect him back on the court?
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Game day: No. 5 Tennessee 103, No. 10 Kentucky 92
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Saturday’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Tennessee at Rupp Arena in Lexington.
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D.J. Wagner was out on the Rupp Arena court a few minutes before tipoff Saturday night, slapping hands and high-fiving every one of his Kentucky teammates as they cycled in and out of the final layup line.
Once the ball was tipped, however, the freshman was relegated to the UK bench, sitting out for the second consecutive game with an ankle injury. It turned out to be yet another example of why the Wildcats need Wagner on the court.
Tennessee defeated Kentucky 103-92 on Saturday night, handing the Cats back-to-back losses on their home floor and dropping their record to 0-3 when Wagner doesn’t play. The team’s starting point guard was also unable to go Wednesday night against Florida — a 94-91 overtime loss for UK — and first sat out in Kentucky’s upset at the hands of UNC Wilmington on Dec. 2.
Wagner, the three-time SEC freshman of the week, is clearly an important player for this UK squad, which is 15-3 in games that he’s played this season. He’s averaging 12.0 points and 3.7 assists per game, but his mere presence changes the way opposing defenses play against the Wildcats, often creating space and opportunities for those around him.
For as much talent as this UK team possesses — especially on the offensive end — there are few players in the country that can break down a defender off the dribble like Wagner can.
“He’s a big factor on our team,” sophomore guard Adou Thiero said after Saturday’s loss. “Offense breaks down, he’ll be able to beat the person off the dribble, get to the hoop and finish. Offense broke down a couple of times (tonight), and we weren’t able to get shots that we wanted. He would have been a big factor in those moments.”
Freshman guard Rob Dillingham provided some of that, and he scored a career-high 35 points in the losing effort. Antonio Reeves scored 21 points. Reed Sheppard added 16 points. But the last two games showed the same thing that the UNC Wilmington shocker did, and that’s the fact that Wagner makes the Wildcats even more explosive. And he’s a major part of the connective tissue that drives these Cats.
When will he be back in the Kentucky lineup?
“He’s probably — I’d say …,” John Calipari started after the game, seeming on the verge of giving a specific timeline for his return. “I don’t even want to say. OK. But I’m expecting him to play soon. Sooner than later.”
Calipari said the high ankle sprain Wagner suffered in Kentucky’s win over Miami on Nov. 28 has lingered. Wagner missed only the UNC Wilmington game four days later before making his return in the Wildcats’ victory over Penn on Dec. 9.
The UK coach noted the awards that Wagner has amassed since then — “So it’s not like he played awful,” he said — but added that the team needs him to be “healthy,” presumably wanting to give the 18-year-old more time to heal now rather than risk him not being able to go once the postseason begins.
Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes called Wagner “a terrific player” after Saturday’s game, acknowledging what a loss it is when Kentucky doesn’t have him on the court.
“When you’ve got a guy that obviously they’ve counted on up to this point — and obviously everybody’s watched him play through the years — he’s a valuable part,” Barnes said. “… We knew that he’s a guy that can get to the mid-range. He’s got a terrific left hand, going to the glass.”
Wagner was ranked as the No. 1 recruit in his class for much of his high school career, and he’s projected as a possible first-round pick in this year’s NBA draft.
Kentucky’s next game is at Vanderbilt — the lowest-rated team in the SEC — on Tuesday night. After that will be a return home against Gonzaga in the final nonconference game of the regular season on Saturday in Rupp Arena. It’s possible — perhaps likely — that Wagner will be back on the court in time to play in one or both of those games.
Now 21 games into the season, Kentucky has yet to play with its entire contingent of players. Wagner, Dillingham, Thiero, Justin Edwards and the team’s trio of 7-footers — Aaron Bradshaw, Zvonimir Ivisic and Ugonna Onyenso — have all been sidelined at times this season. (Ivisic was also out Saturday after missing Friday’s practice with an illness.) Fifth-year players Tre Mitchell and Reeves, along with Sheppard, are the only three Wildcats that have played in every game so far.
Calipari is obviously hoping to have everyone available as soon as possible.
“But we need him healthy,” he said of Wagner. “… We’ve done some things, and I think he’s getting healthy. It’s like you all know — when he doesn’t play, we don’t win. You know that.”
This story was originally published February 4, 2024 at 7:00 AM.
