John Calipari isn’t sure when Cason Wallace or Sahvir Wheeler will be back

Vicky Graff Photo

Kentucky may or may not have freshman point guard Cason Wallace back when it plays at Arkansas Saturday.

He was hurt early in the second half of Wednesday’s 68-66 loss to Vanderbilt that left the Cats without a true point guard since senior Sahvir Wheeler was out again after needing minor surgery earlier in the day (even though he was doubtful any way because of an ankle injury that had already forced him to miss the last six games.)

“First of all, Cason, they X-rayed. He’s fine. It’s not swelled. So, we’ll see. I’m hoping that he’ll be okay for Saturday, but I don’t know,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said after the game.

“And if not, we’ve got to figure out how we do it against pressure. We had to go with the guys we went with. We went with some other guys, and they just were getting the ball taken from ’em.”

With Wallace out and Wheeler  not available, Calipari turned mainly to Antonio Reeves to run the  point a lot in the second half even though he’s also UK’s primary scorer along with Oscar Tshiebwe. Reeves got plenty of shots but went 4-for-17 from the field and missed with the game tied 66-66 and his 3-pointer at the buzzer was also off.

“I just needed to make sure that I handled (the ball) and be tough with it because (Vanderbilt’s) guards could pressure you. I had experience with that position and had confidence in myself, so there was not a lot to worry about,” Reeves, who sat out the final 10 minutes of the first half and finished with three turnovers in 29 minutes, said.

“Mentally, I have to go back to the drawing board and learn plays. I’ve been in that position before, so it’s not going to take much to get used to. If I have to take the role again, I’ll be ready for it.”

He might because freshman Adou Thiero is not ready to be a full-time point guard and Calipari didn’t sound like Wheeler would be back any time soon — it at all.

“My guess right now, and what the doctors told me, it’s going to be a couple weeks, or at least that’s what they think. So this is who we have right now,” Calipari said when asked about Wheeler.

Tshiebwe had 21 points — he was 11 of 15 from the foul line — and 20 rebounds along with three blocks, two assists and one steal in 38 minutes. He also had three turnovers.

“Yes, I went and checked on him a little bit. I went and checked on him with the trainer. He should be good, I am supposed to not give that much information,” Tshiebwe said about Wallace.

The Kentucky All-American said Wallace makes plays to help everyone when he’s in the game.

“Antonio is not a point guard. That boy is a wing. When you are put in a position where the point guard you kind of miss him a little bit,” Tshiebwe said.  “But we are going to need Cason. We are going to need Cason; we are going to need Sahvir  and the other people who have been making plays.”

Calipari noted that with Wallace out UK still only had 11 turnovers.

“We only had 11 without a point guard. You ready? We only had six assists. So now I say to you, was that because we missed every shot or we were playing without a point guard?” Calipari said.

“I would tell you a lot of ’em were shots we could have made and now, all of a sudden, you get 13 assists and 11 turnovers, you’re in a different position.”