Kam Williams played 17 minutes and hit a 3-pointer against LSU. (Vicky Graff Photo)
The pregame hope was that Kentucky could build a lead and enable coach Mark Pope to insert Kam Williams into the game for a few minutes.
He had not played since breaking his foot Jan. 21 but had returned to practice but Pope had never officially said Williams would play against LSU in the SEC Tournament opener. However, not only did he play, he came in the game fairly early in the first half and played 17 minutes, hit a 3-pointer, grabbed two rebounds and had one assist. He did not commit a turnover.
“To be honest, I didn’t even know he was going to play today. I’m glad he did. He came in, stepped up big-time. He guarded. Hit a big-time 3,” UK point guard Denzel Aberdeen said after the 87-82 . “I’m just proud of him and his journey, trying to get back to us as quick as possible. Been in and out of the training room a lot. I’m proud of him today for coming in.”
Otega Oweh, UK’s leading scorer again with 23 points, believes Williams found out Tuesday he was going to play against LSU>
“Obviously he comes in and trains every single day trying to get back. I feel like that really shows the type of player and person he is,” Oweh said. “I mean, anyone could just say they’re going to call it out for the season.
“I feel like he worked really hard to get back and get in game shape. He was really big for us today I feel like defensively, and he made that big-time 3.”
Kentucky Radio Network analyst Jack Givens said Williams sent a message with his 3-pointer.
“That showed LSU had to extend the defense and gave UK players room to operate inside. That was a big 3 in the first half,” Givens said.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope tried to stay cautious after the game.
“We’re excited if he keeps responding well, him just getting into a flow of the game, us learning to have him on the court again. It’s been a long time since we had him in the rotation,” Pope said. Going into the game, we talked about it a lot.
“We just felt like he was at a place where we could throw him out there. He hasn’t made it through a live practice yet, a whole practice.”
Practice or not, he showed he was ready to contribute.
“He has a unique ability to have a positive impact on the game, especially defensively with his length. He’s pretty assignment sound. He gave up one today. He was pretty good. Banged a 3 for us, which is super helpful,” Pope said.
“Also just getting some extra minutes from another space is really important for us, especially when we’re going back-to-back to back-to-back to back. It’s great to have him back. I’m very hopeful that his foot will respond well tomorrow. We’ll just see.”
One Response
About 13 min mark and we starting to surrender nice lead. We have already missed 8 layups and several other in close. We have no inside offense and they do and could be key to game since we can't make 3's.
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