Jaxson Robinson, center, cheered for his teammates during Tuesday's win over Tennessee. (Vicky Graff Photo)
It was obvious in Kentucky’s win over South Carolina that Jaxson Robinson was having a lot of pain with a wrist injury suffered in practice a day earlier and it was not a huge surprise he did not play in UK’s victory over Tennessee Tuesday.
However, what was a surprise is that Robinson showed up at the game wearing a brace on his right wrist indicating that this might not just be a one-game absence for UK’s top scoring threat.
“I’m not sure we are going to get him back anytime soon but I’m hoping and praying we get him back soon,” coach Mark Pope said after the Tennessee game. “My heart is broken for Jax right now because he deserves to be out there on the court and be a part of this. He’s a super senior and has helped build this identity that we have right now and so that was the biggest thing.”
Point guard Lamont Butler had missed the three previous games due to a shoulder injury but returned to the lineup against the Vols only to take a hard fall with 8 minutes, 40 seconds to play. He laid on the floor in pain, went back to the locker room and returned only to sit and watch the rest of the game.
Butler showed no fear of injuring himself again when he dove on the floor for a loose ball in a one-point game.
“Lamont is just showing his heart. That is the way he plays,” UK Radio Network analyst Jack Givens said at the time. “You just can’t dial it back because if you do you will not be on top of your game. I just love his heart and a very bad break for Kentucky.”
Pope said it was “super scary” when Butler went down right in front of him. .
“The second he went down you could kind of see he extended out and just torqued his shoulder a little bit and it was just exactly what we didn’t want to do,” Pope said.
Butler had six points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals in his 22 minutes of play before being injured and the UK offense definitely stays more in sync with him at the point.
“He was incredible. He was brave tonight too. He was playing as a one-armed bandit out there and just working for his team,” Pope said. “He was brilliant tonight, I thought he was great. He got the first steal on the first possession. Talk about a statement like, ‘Hey, we are going to guard’.
“What was really fun is I didn’t really see him race down the floor and score a layup because my eyes were drawn to Otega Oweh who was, like I thought he was going to run up in the crowd and body surf. He was so excited about the defensive play. That sets a good tone for our team.
“I’m hopeful he can get healthy as soon as possible, we’ll see.”
Pope knows the season is rapidly drawing to a close and that Butler has been a “winner and team leader” just like Robinson has been.
“I do trust that we will find a way to get those guys healthy as soon as possible,” Pope said.
Kentucky returns to action on Saturday night at Texas.
