Vicky Graff Photo
Kentucky desperately needs a win over No. 5 Tennessee tonight to bolster its NCAA Tournament resume that is not all that good despite a 15-5 record.
One boost for the Cats would be if sophomore Adou Thiero is healthy and can play however many minutes he might be needed and it would seem his defense, rebounding and physicality could be something UK really needs tonight.
“It’s really important for us to add another physical guy to our team that can create for us and block shots on the defensive end,” freshman Justin Edwards, who missed Wednesday’s loss to Florida with a quad injury, said Friday. “I’m happy to have him back.”
That hopefully means Thiero will be able to go. He missed about a month of play after injuring his back in a fall during a win over Louisville and then left the Florida game grimacing in pain in the second half Wednesday. He didn’t return in the second half as coach John Calipari played the same five players the final 10 minutes, 25 seconds. Thiero did play 68 seconds in overtime when Rob Dillingham had leg cramps but that was it.
The 6-8 Thiero said Friday he could have played more but understood why Calipari stuck with five players he thought were playing well together.
Thiero said Friday he’s had a lot of recovery and rehab the last month to try and get back on the court.
“I had to work on my core strength,” Thiero said. “Getting it back to the strongest possible so it could help my back so I can just help protect myself a lot more. So that’s what we’ve been working on the most to protect myself.”
Thiero hit a growth spurt in high school and has grown two more inches at UK that many feel has led to some of his ongoing back pain.
“I always had knee pains and stuff like that, but I think my upper body is growing, so that needs to hurry up,” he said.
Thiero averages 7.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game and adds to UK’s physicality.
He played 12 minutes at Arkansas in his SEC debut and had 15 minutes against Florida before getting injured.
“I knew exactly what happened. I told my trainer my hip is out of place,” Thiero said. “I was fine to play for the rest of the game. Whenever I’ve played, I’ve never used my core strength. I kind of just let my body flow how it flows.
“Now I’m being told, I gotta use my core a lot more when jumping and stuff like that. I’ve just been trying to work on that to help better myself. Just bracing for hits. Just being able to absorb the contact.”
