Jaxson Robinson Ruled Out Against Tennessee

Jaxson Robinson spent a lot of time on the bench in the win over South Carolina due to a wrist injury and he won't play tonight against Tennessee. (Vicky Graff Photo)

One step forward, one step back.

That’s the way it seems with the Kentucky basketball team and injuries.

Just a few hours after point guard Lamont Butler proclaimed not only would he play against Tennessee Tuesday night and his shoulder now seemed good for the long run, the SEC Availability Report listed guard Jaxson Robinson as out for tonight’s games.

Remember Robinson had to play the point in UK’s upset win at Tennessee when Butler was out with his shoulder injury. Butler finally came back Saturday in the win over South Carolina but Robinson played that game with a wrist injury suffered in practice and clearly was not 100 percent  in the 80-57 win.

Robinson went 2-for-8 from the field and had six points, five rebounds and four assists in 20 minutes of play. Several times Robinson was wincing in pain and grabbing/holding his wrist before coach Mark Pope finally sat him out.

Pope had indicated on his weekly radio show Monday night that it looked like Robinson would not play and the SEC injury report confirmed that.

Robinson will obviously be missed against No. 5 Tennessee. He is averaging 13.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game and shooting a career-best 43.2 percent  from the floor and 38.1 from 3-point range. He had 17 points in the 78-73 win at Tennessee on Jan. 28.
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Pope also shot down speculation that backup point guard Kerr Kriisa, out the last two months after breaking a bone in his foot, was ready to play

“Kerr was not practicing today,” Pope said. “I would love to let that hang out in the air, but he wasn’t. He’s still a ways away. We’re still hoping that we make progress but we’re still a ways away.”

Kentucky should have Andrew Carr available for a lot more duty than in UK’s win at Tennessee when he played only 89 seconds because of a back injury. He’s played the last two games and his presence could help pick up the scoring the Cats will be missing with Robinson out.