Mark Pope gives UK basketball injury updates after Kentucky beats Tennessee at Rupp Arena
READ MORE
Game day: No. 15 Kentucky 75, No. 5 Tennessee 64
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Tuesday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Tennessee in Rupp Arena.
Expand All
Kentucky basketball’s 75-64 home win against Tennessee on Tuesday night at a vibrant Rupp Arena was yet another show of resilience from this season’s group of Wildcats.
By the end of the contest, Mark Pope’s team was down to its fourth option, center Amari Williams, at point guard. Fifth-year guards Kerr Kriisa and Jaxson Robinson were ruled out of the game Monday night with the release of the SEC injury report.
Kriisa hasn’t played for the Cats since injuring his foot on Dec. 7 during UK’s overtime win over Gonzaga in Seattle. Robinson missed his first game of the season for UK with a right wrist injury that was suffered in practice last Friday.
And the return of fellow fifth-year guard Lamont Butler was short-lived. After missing three straight games for UK with a left shoulder injury, Butler returned to game action for the Wildcats on Saturday in a home win against South Carolina.
While Butler played again for Kentucky on Tuesday night, he exited the contest with 8:40 to go in the game after reinjuring his left shoulder.
After the game, there was plenty for the No. 15 Wildcats to celebrate after securing a season sweep over the No. 5 Volunteers. But there were also plenty of questions about the immediate injury outlook for Butler and Robinson.
Pope addressed the injury situation for both Butler and Robinson during his postgame press conference.
Lamont Butler injury update for UK basketball
Obviously, the injury that was top of mind for UK fans — even as the Wildcats sealed the deal on a third straight win over Tennessee, something that hasn’t happened in 12 years — was related to Butler. He didn’t return to the game for UK after suffering his injury setback, which came while competing for a loose ball.
Afterward, Pope was asked by the Herald-Leader what he knew about Butler’s injury.
“Lamont’s (injury) just was super scary,” Pope said. “He was right in front of me. He went down. The second he went down, you could kind of see as he extended out that it just torqued his shoulder a little bit. It was just exactly what we didn’t want to do.”
Butler — a fifth-year guard who previously played four seasons at San Diego State — was initially included on Kentucky’s injury report for the Tennessee game on Monday, before being removed from the report when it was updated Tuesday evening.
Butler’s left shoulder injury first occurred during a Jan. 14 home win against Texas A&M. In December, Butler also missed two games for UK with an ankle injury.
After suffering the shoulder injury against the Aggies, Butler played in UK’s next two games — losses to Alabama and at Vanderbilt — before being sidelined for three straight contests.
“It’s feeling all right,” Butler said Monday when he met with reporters and was asked about his shoulder.
Butler played 23 minutes on Saturday against South Carolina in his return, and 22 minutes on Tuesday against Tennessee.
“In the moment I was just feeling for Lamont,” Pope said Tuesday night. “We feel this all the time. We don’t have that much time left and he’s been so incredible, such a winner, such a leader. I just want him so badly to be able to play.”
Butler’s final stat line against the Volunteers was six points on 3-for-6 shooting from the field, four assists, three rebounds and a game-high three steals. Butler didn’t turn the ball over against Tennessee, which entered the game with the top-ranked defense in the nation, per KenPom.
“He was incredible, and he was brave tonight, too,” Pope added about Butler. “He’s playing as a one-armed bandit out there … We’ll patchwork it together. We’ll keep figuring it out. I thought he was brilliant tonight … I’m hopeful that he can get back healthy as soon as possible. We’ll see.”
Prior to Tuesday, Butler was averaging 12.9 points and 4.7 assists per game for the Wildcats, while shooting 40% from 3-point range.
What’s the injury news for Kentucky basketball guard Jaxson Robinson?
Robinson — the fifth-year guard who is now in his third season playing for Pope — suffered a right wrist injury last Friday during UK practice.
On Saturday, prior to Kentucky’s win over South Carolina, Pope described the practice collision that caused Robinson’s injury as “scary.” Following the injury, X-ray imaging done on Robinson’s right wrist came back clean for UK.
Like usual, Robinson started against the Gamecocks, playing 20 minutes and recording six points, five rebounds and four assists against the Gamecocks. But Robinson was ruled out of Tuesday’s home win over Tennessee due to that wrist injury.
After Tuesday’s game, Pope didn’t sound optimistic when asked about Robinson’s injury by the Herald-Leader.
“I’m not sure we’re going to get him back anytime soon,” Pope said about Robinson. “But I’m hoping, I’m praying, that we get him back sooner.”
Robinson is averaging 13.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game this season for UK. Entering Tuesday’s game against Tennessee, Robinson was Kentucky’s second-leading scorer and the team’s leader in minutes played (28.7 per game).
Robinson had started all 23 of Kentucky’s games this season, prior to the Tennessee game.
“My heart’s broken for Jax right now because he deserves to be out there on the court and be a part of this,” Pope said Tuesday. “He’s a super-senior, and he’s helped build this identity that we have right now.”
Prior to being asked postgame about Robinson’s injury status, Pope discussed the subject during his weekly radio show on Monday. The radio show aired a few hours before Robinson was ruled out for the Tennessee game.
The most substantive of those comments came when Pope discussed the ongoing injuries for both Butler and Robinson.
“Jax and Lamont are just a patchwork every single day,” Pope said Monday. “We’re seeing how good a tape job we can give them and how much treatment and therapy we can give them, and roll them out there and see where we get … It’s going to be touch and go with those guys for the next few weeks.”
“I do trust that we’ll find a way to get those guys healthy as soon as possible,” Pope added on Tuesday.
This story was originally published February 11, 2025 at 10:05 PM.
