Who is out for Kentucky basketball for John Calipari’s Rupp Arena return with Arkansas?

It’s finally here.

One of the most anticipated men’s college basketball games of the 2024-25 season will take place in downtown Lexington on Saturday night when former UK head coach John Calipari makes his highly anticipated return to Rupp Arena.

Calipari will be leading his new program, Arkansas (12-8 overall, 1-6 SEC) against No. 12 Kentucky (15-5, 4-3).

The storylines surrounding Saturday’s contest are plentiful.

Calipari’s return to face the school he led for 15 seasons, a run that included early success and the 2012 national championship, but that soured in a major way at the end. The Calipari-era former Kentucky players who are back to face their former program, including projected first round NBA draft selection Adou Thiero and versatile Croatian big man Zvonimir Ivisic. And perhaps top of everyone’s mind entering the game, what kind of reception will Calipari get from what should be a boisterous late-night Rupp Arena crowd?

There’s also the small matter of Kentucky itself, with Mark Pope’s Wildcats looking to build off of Tuesday night’s surprising road win over top-10 Tennessee.

UK won that rivalry matchup with the Volunteers while battling significant injury woes.

An important update on the injury front for UK arrived Friday night, when the SEC injury report for both Arkansas and Kentucky was released ahead of Saturday’s game. That injury report was updated at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Here’s what you need to know about which players are available, and which players aren’t, for the Hogs and Wildcats on Saturday.

Which Kentucky basketball players are on SEC injury report?

The same three UK players who were on the SEC injury report ahead of Tuesday’s game at Tennessee were on the report once again Friday night ahead of the Arkansas game.

Fifth-year players Lamont Butler, Andrew Carr and Kerr Kriisa were all listed on Friday’s report.

Both Butler and Kriisa were listed as out for the game. Carr was listed as probable. That designation meant Carr had a 75% chance to play in the game.

On Saturday night, Carr was removed from UK’s injury report. This signals that Carr will play for Kentucky against Arkansas.

Butler — who is averaging 13.2 points and 4.8 assists per game this season — has battled several injuries this season, including injuries to his ankle and left shoulder. That ankle injury sidelined Butler for two nonconference games in December. The shoulder injury is part of the overall injury issues that combined to keep Butler out of Tuesday’s win at Tennessee.

The Wildcats are 3-0 this season without Butler, a standout defensive presence who previously played four seasons at San Diego State. Now, the Cats will look to go 4-0 without him.

On Thursday afternoon during his weekly press conference, Pope had this to say about Butler.

“I know I’m not sharing all the information on Lamont, but we’ll kind of figure that out as time goes by,” Pope said. “And I’m kind of, you know, we’re just trying to figure that part out.”

Pope added on Thursday that Butler still wasn’t cleared to practice for the Cats.

This season, Butler is averaging 13.2 points, 4.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 51.3% from the field and 40% from 3-point range. Butler’s 26.7 minutes per game is third on the UK team, and his point-of-attack defense has been crucial for the Wildcats.

“There’s multiple factors in it. Some will get better, and others we’ll see,” Pope said Tuesday night after the Tennessee game about Butler’s ongoing injuries. “I’m an eternal optimist. … Lamont is the heart and soul of this team. If and when we get him back, we’re going to be elated. We certainly need him and in the meantime, guys are going to step up and compete and fight.”

The injury tea leaves weren’t great for Carr, a versatile forward who previously spent two seasons each at Delaware and Wake Forest. Carr has been dealing with a lingering back injury and he missed his first game of the season last weekend when Kentucky lost at Vanderbilt.

Carr was initially on the SEC injury report for Tuesday’s game at Tennessee, but was removed from it prior to tipoff. But, Carr played only 89 seconds in that game, all of which came during one on-court stint in the first half.

Carr entered that contest against the Volunteers with per-game averages of 10.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 26 minutes played. On UK radio before Tuesday’s game, Pope stressed that making sure Carr didn’t suffer a setback with his back injury was one of the top priorities for that game.

Postgame, Pope indicated that Carr didn’t have an injury setback, and also that it was probably a bit early for Carr to return to game action.

On Thursday afternoon, Pope elaborated on those thoughts.

“Andrew’s such a warrior. I mean, he won’t talk about discomfort. He won’t talk about pain. Every single time you talk, he’s like, ‘I’m gonna go! Let’s go!’ But he also needed a little bit of time just to heal,” Pope said.

“And so, you know, we hadn’t had any practice time, but he was cleared. And we’re kind of like, ‘Uh, can we buy him a few more days? If we put him in now, is it a setback?’ You’re just managing all those things, and so I thought I was incredibly brave to put him in the game. I thought it was, ‘Man. I am full of courage.’ My courage lasted like 90 seconds, and then my courage was gone. Hopefully it’ll last longer in the future.”

On UK’s pregame radio show Saturday night, Pope said Carr is “doing the best he’s been in three weeks.”

Carr had been on a no-practice schedule in recent weeks to try and allow him to be as healthy as possible for games. But, Carr was able to practice with the Wildcats on Friday ahead of Saturday’s game against Arkansas.

Carr hasn’t scored more than four points or grabbed more than one rebound in an outing for UK since the Jan. 14 home win over Texas A&M.

Kriisa — the fifth-year guard from Estonia who previously played at Arizona and West Virginia — remains sidelined with a foot injury that he suffered in early December. That injury occurred Dec. 7 during UK’s overtime win over Gonzaga in Seattle. The day after that game, UK announced Kriisa’s injury required surgery, and he hasn’t played for the Cats since.

Kriisa — who is averaging 3.8 assists in 17.3 minutes played per game this season — is now well beyond the initial six-week time frame that Pope mentioned as an estimate for Kriisa’s return.

Due to the combined absences of Butler and Kriisa, UK has gotten creative at the point guard spot. This has included significant playing time for freshman guards Collin Chandler and Travis Perry, using fifth-year guard Jaxson Robinson at the point and allowing fifth-year big man Amari Williams to operate in a featured ball-handling role.

Which Arkansas basketball players are on the SEC injury report?

Calipari’s Arkansas squad hasn’t played in a week. The Hogs were on a bye this week after losing at home to Oklahoma last Saturday.

The only player on the injury report for the Razorbacks for that contest — freshman guard Boogie Fland — remains the only player on the injury report for Arkansas ahead of Saturday’s game at UK.

Fland is out for Saturday’s game.

Fland, a former UK recruit and signee who was set to be part of Calipari’s 2024 recruiting class at Kentucky, is probably out for the season after undergoing surgery in January to repair an injury to his right thumb. Fland first injured his thumb on Jan. 11 during a home loss to Florida.

Prior to his surgery, Fland had started all 18 games for Arkansas, with per-game averages of 15.1 points, 5.7 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals. In 34.1 minutes per game, Fland was shooting 39.1% from the field, 36.5% from 3-point range and 83.9% from the free-throw line. Fland was second on Arkansas in scoring and steals, and he was Arkansas’ runaway assists leader and was second on the team in minutes per game.

Before he underwent that surgery, Fland was also first in the SEC in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.7).

Fland is one of three former class of 2024 recruits for Calipari at Kentucky who opted to follow the coach to Fayetteville last offseason. The others are Karter Knox and Billy Richmond III.

Knox has played in all 20 of Arkansas’ games this season, with eight starts. He scored 13 points — including 11 made foul shots — and grabbed six rebounds in Arkansas’ lone SEC win of the season over Georgia on Jan. 22. Knox has played at least 20 minutes in each of Arkansas’ last three games.

Richmond has come off the bench for the Razorbacks in all 20 of their games. He’s yet to score more than four points in an SEC game.

Three former UK players — the aforementioned Ivisic and Thiero, along with sophomore guard D.J. Wagner — will also be suiting up for the Hogs come Saturday night.

Saturday

Arkansas at No. 12 Kentucky

When: 9 p.m.

TV: ESPN

Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1

Records: Arkansas 12-8 (1-6 SEC), Kentucky 15-5 (4-3 SEC)

Series: Kentucky leads 36-14

Last meeting: Kentucky won 111-102 on March 2, 2024, in Lexington

This story was originally published January 31, 2025 at 8:17 PM.

Cameron Drummond

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-242-5257

Cameron Drummond works as a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader with a focus on Kentucky men’s basketball recruiting and the UK men’s basketball team, horse racing, soccer and other sports in Central Kentucky. Drummond is a second-generation American who was born and raised in Texas, before graduating from Indiana University. He is a fluent Spanish speaker who previously worked as a community news reporter in Austin, Texas. Support my work with a digital subscription