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When Kentucky lost at Vanderbilt last month, Andrew Carr did not play due to his back injury.
It was only the second time in his five year collegiate career that he had missed a game.
Carr gets his chance to face the Commodores tonight in Rupp Arena when UK tries to bounce back from Saturday’s loss at Texas.
Carr has been playing but his production certainly indicates that he has not been at full strength because of his back injury. Kentucky coach Mark Pope believes he is getting healthier and UK needs his versatility.
“Health-wise I’m doing good. I feel great. Certainly trying to continue to get back into a groove here the last couple games,” Carr said Tuesday.
His maturity could also benefit the Cats.
“As a team we gotta be a little more consistent and that’s kind of where we’re at mentally. We’re just ready to do whatever it takes to keep on winning. Get back in the win column,” Carr said.
Carr averaged 11.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game in UK’s first 13 games and not only shot 55 percent from the field but also had three or more assists in six games. He started SEC play by scoring 13 or more points in wins over top 15 teams Florida, Mississippi State and Texas A&M. However, he played less than 20 minutes in the loss to Alabama, did not play at Vanderbilt and lasted just 89 seconds in the win at Tennessee.
In the last five games, he’s averaged only 6.0 points and 2.8 rebounds per game while coming off the bench with Ansley Almonor staying in the starting lineup. He has averaged just 18 minutes per game in those five games.
Carr would love to break those trends tonight against Vanderbilt and saw enough in Nashville to know what it will take for UK to win tonight.
“We fought back really well against (Vanderbilt) in the beginning of the second half there and had them on the ropes, and they ended up coming back and beating us,” Carr said. “That one really hurt for us, and we really felt that we learned a lot from that game.
“I wasn’t able to be a part of the game. I’m super excited to be able to try and get out there and go get a win against them.”
