Will Kentucky forward Andrew Carr play against Texas A&M? Injury news before top-15 SEC battle.
There’s plenty of intrigue over the status of several key players before a top-15 college basketball showdown in Rupp Arena.
No. 8 Kentucky (13-3 overall, 2-1 SEC) will play No. 11 Texas A&M (13-3, 2-1) in a highly anticipated SEC matchup in Lexington.
Which players will be able to take part in the game was very much a question, though.
During his weekly radio show Monday night, UK head coach Mark Pope provided injury updates on a pair of fifth-year Kentucky players, including starting forward Andrew Carr.
Meanwhile for the Aggies, head coach Buzz Williams’ team will be without an All-SEC performer for a third straight game.
Monday night’s SEC pregame injury report, along with the Tuesday evening update to that report, provided further insight into the playing statuses of several players for Tuesday’s contest.
Will Andrew Carr play for Kentucky basketball against Texas A&M?
Carr, who is dealing with a back injury, was a gametime decision to play Tuesday night, according to Pope. Carr appeared in the Kentucky starting lineup like normal for the game.
Carr didn’t practice with Kentucky on Monday.
“He was kind of in full rehab (Monday),” Pope said on his weekly radio show. “I anticipate that he’s going to be able to play tomorrow, but it’ll be another gametime decision. We’re going to kind of keep nursing him back the best we can... He’s fighting this right now. We do feel like there’s a good chance he’ll be on an upward swing health-wise. But we’re just managing this right now.”
On Monday night’s SEC pregame injury report, Carr was listed as probable. That official designation signifies that Carr has a 75% chance to play against Texas A&M. But in Tuesday evening’s update to the pregame injury report, Carr wasn’t listed. This indicates he will play for UK.
Carr was also on the SEC pregame injury report for Kentucky’s last game, the 95-90 win at then-No. 14 Mississippi State on Saturday.
Carr — who scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds in 21 minutes against Mississippi State — had been listed as “questionable” to play on the Friday night injury report before that contest. The Herald-Leader was told that Carr was also unable to practice prior to the Mississippi State game.
Carr was eventually listed as a “game-time decision” for the Mississippi State game, and took his usual spot in the Kentucky starting lineup. But, Carr didn’t play in the final eight minutes of the road win.
“Andrew ended up making huge plays, man, huge plays. Not just because he got a couple and-ones, but because he got some guys in foul trouble that really helped us,” Pope said postgame in Starkville. “He’s a tough, tough kid, man. He’s a warrior. He’s a really tough kid. He loves our team.”
“It shows you what type of team we have,” UK senior forward Ansley Almonor said Monday about Carr playing through pain against Mississippi State. “People try to go out there and say we’re soft. We’re nothing associated with soft, at all. (Carr) goes out there, he fights for his brothers every day. We appreciate him. We appreciate him doing that. It means a lot to us.”
A 6-foot-11, 235-pound fifth-year forward, Carr is averaging 11.3 points, 5.9 rebounds and a career-high 2.5 assists for the Wildcats.
He’s now started all 17 of UK’s games.
Will Wade Taylor IV play for Texas A&M against Kentucky?
Wade Taylor IV — who is Texas A&M’s leading scorer at 15.7 points per game — has missed two straight games because of an undisclosed injury. Taylor was unable to play for the Aggies in a road win at then-No. 17 Oklahoma last Wednesday and in a home loss to then-No. 5 Alabama on Saturday night.
He suffered the injury during Texas A&M’s opening game of SEC play, a 20-point home win over Texas on Jan. 4.
On Monday night’s SEC pregame injury report, Taylor was listed as out. That official designation means that Taylor has a 0% chance to play against the Wildcats.
After Texas A&M’s loss to Alabama on Saturday, Aggies head coach Buzz Williams didn’t provide a timetable for Taylor’s return.
Taylor — a 6-foot senior guard who was the SEC’s preseason player of the year in 2023 — is averaging a career-best 4.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game this season. He’s shooting 90% from the foul line and 33.7% from 3-point range on significant volume (7.5 attempts per game).
Per KenPom, Taylor’s assist rate — assists divided by the field goals made by the player’s teammates while the player is on the court — ranks in the top 60 in the nation, and Taylor’s free-throw percentage is a top-50 mark nationally.
Taylor has started all 13 games that he’s played for the Aggies this season.
Last season, Taylor tortured the Wildcats. He had 31 points, six rebounds and five assists in an overtime win over Kentucky in January in College Station. Taylor then had 32 points in an SEC Tournament quarterfinal win over the Cats in Nashville.
In Taylor’s absence, fellow senior guard Zhuric Phelps has taken on more of the offensive load for the Aggies. The SMU transfer had 34 points in the win at Oklahoma and 24 points (along with nine rebounds) in the home loss to Alabama.
Mark Pope provides recovery update on Kerr Kriisa
Kerr Kriisa — the fifth-year Kentucky guard from Estonia who previously played at Arizona and West Virginia — suffered a foot injury Dec. 7 during UK’s overtime win over Gonzaga in Seattle.
The day after that game, Kentucky announced that Kriisa’s injury required surgery. The injury is not expected to be season-ending for Kriisa, who has used crutches and worn a walking boot while on Kentucky’s bench in recent weeks.
On Monday night, Pope provided some insight into Kriisa’s recovery process.
“Kerr is out of the (walking) boot, for at least little segments of the day, which he’s excited about,” Pope said. “It’s not full-time. He’ll kind of begin some rehab here in the next couple of weeks. And then it’s just a matter of just seeing how fast and cleanly he can progress.”
Pope didn’t provide a timeframe, but he acknowledged that progress is being made toward a return to play for Kriisa, who has played in nine games for the Cats this season.
On Monday night’s SEC pregame injury report, Kriisa was listed as out. On Tuesday evening prior to the game at Rupp Arena, Kriisa took part in some casual shooting on the court.
Kriisa wasn’t wearing crutches or a walking boot while he put up shots.
Despite being sidelined for more than a month now, Kriisa is still doing his part to coach up Kentucky’s other guards, including freshman Travis Perry, who has slotted into Kriisa’s role backing up starter Lamont Butler.
“Kerr, he’s a great dude on the court (and) off the court. In the time right now where he’s hurt, he’s been a great resource for me, just talking through all the little things. Kind of the mindset that he had whenever he was playing the minutes that I’m playing now,” Perry said Monday. “... One of the things that he’s trying to get me to be big on is energy. You see the energy plays he has. That’s not really been my DNA in the past, but he’s working on it with me. There’s many things that he did great, on the offensive side of the ball and especially on the defensive side of the ball, that he’s really helping me with.”
Since that Gonzaga game, Perry is averaging nearly eight minutes per game across seven games after moving into an expanded role for the Wildcats.
This story was originally published January 13, 2025 at 7:16 PM.
