Kriisa, Robinson are only UK basketball players on injury report before SEC Tournament
Kentucky basketball’s injury report prior to UK’s first game in this week’s SEC Tournament offered no surprises.
Head coach Mark Pope’s UK team will be without fifth-year guards Kerr Kriisa and Jaxson Robinson for Thursday night’s SEC Tournament second-round game against Oklahoma at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
But, none of Kentucky’s other 10 scholarship players were on the injury report, which was released Wednesday night and updated Thursday.
Kentucky is the 6 seed for this week’s SEC Tournament, and UK will play 14 seed Oklahoma in Thursday’s second-round matchup. The Sooners defeated 11 seed Georgia, 81-75, in a first-round game Wednesday night.
UK won at Oklahoma, 83-82, on Feb. 26, powered by a special scoring performance from junior guard Otega Oweh, who previously played two seasons at OU.
SEC Tournament injury information for Kentucky basketball
Kentucky has been without Kriisa and Robinson for a while now, and that will continue to be the case for the rest of the season. Both players are out for the rest of Kentucky’s campaign.
Kriisa — a fifth-year guard from Estonia who previously played at Arizona and West Virginia — suffered a fractured foot while playing in UK’s overtime win over Gonzaga on Dec. 7 and hasn’t appeared in a game for the Wildcats since. Kriisa only played in nine games for UK this season before suffering that injury, which required surgery.
“We’re past the window now where he could actually get back,” Pope said of Kriisa on March 6. “It’s just been a little bit of a stubborn healing process. So, he just hasn’t reached the benchmarks that he needed to get to, in terms of the healing process.”
Robinson — also a fifth-year guard who previously played for Pope for two seasons at BYU — saw his college career come to an end during a Feb. 26 road win at Oklahoma after Robinson reaggravated a right wrist injury that was first suffered in practice on Feb. 7.
On March 1, Pope announced Robinson would be done for the season during his postgame press conference following Kentucky’s home loss to Auburn. Robinson underwent right wrist surgery on March 5.
While the Kentucky basketball roster has been in flux for large stretches of this season, the Wildcats have gotten some clarity in recent weeks following Robinson’s final college basketball appearance in that Oklahoma game. UK played the final three games of the season with the same group of 10 scholarship players available.
Those players are: Ansley Almonor, Koby Brea, Lamont Butler, Andrew Carr, Collin Chandler, Brandon Garrison, Trent Noah, Otega Oweh, Travis Perry and Amari Williams.
UK went 2-1 during this stretch, losing at home to Auburn and recording a home win over LSU and a road win at Missouri on Saturday.
Butler (left shoulder) and Carr (back) have had their own injury issues this season. But Kentucky is as healthy as it has been in some time ahead of Thursday’s SEC Tournament opener.
“Certainly the continuity is helpful,” Pope said Wednesday afternoon when speaking to reporters at UK’s team hotel in Nashville. “The continuity is helpful with us being able to game plan our guys, being able to game plan, being able to look back at least three games (with) a three-game history with this lineup. And be like, ‘OK, we function pretty well in this space. The rotation kind of worked a little bit here, based on situation.’ Continuity is really important and we’re incredibly grateful to have had the last two weeks of a little bit of continuity. Been a long time since we were there. So it’s been really good for our team.”
SEC Tournament injury information for Oklahoma
Oklahoma’s Sam Godwin — a fifth-year forward and regular starter for the Sooners — is out for OU against UK. Godwin also missed Oklahoma’s Wednesday night win over Georgia.
Godwin, who is dealing with a right knee injury, averages 6.5 points and 5.2 rebounds in 19.1 minutes per game this season.
Godwin suffered the right knee injury during Oklahoma’s home win over Missouri on March 5. He missed Oklahoma’s regular-season finale, a road win at Texas, due to the injury.
Against Kentucky on Feb. 26, Godwin had seven points and six rebounds in 22 minutes. Godwin fouled out of the game with 2:48 to play.
This story was originally published March 12, 2025 at 8:21 PM.
