Bruce Pearl provides injury update on Jaylin Williams

The Auburn Tigers suffered a major injury on Saturday night against the Kentucky Wildcats, as star Jaylin Williams exited the game with a serious right knee injury. Following the game, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl offered an update on the status of Williams and it didn’t sound good.

“We think he has something,” Pearl said following the game, basically saying the injury doesn’t seem to be a minor issue at this point. He also called Williams “a significant loss”, adding that other players will have to step up the rest of the season. The Auburn star forward will have an MRI on Sunday for official confirmation, according to AuburnLive’s Justin Hokanson.

It’s a tough pill for Auburn fans to swallow, especially after the tough loss they were dealt on Saturday night by Kentucky.

Williams went up for what could have potentially been one of the best dunks of the year in the second half, but missed, and went to the ground awkwardly. He was down on the pain for a number of minutes and had his right knee checked out by trainers for a few minutes, before heading to the Auburn locker room. Williams could not put any pressure on his right leg as his left the floor with assistance from medical staff.

With over five minutes remaining in the game, ESPN sideline reporter Jess Sims updated the status of Williams. “Hey guys. Quick update. Jaylin Williams is still in the training room and is officially confirmed out for the remainder of the game with a knee injury,” Sims noted.

Before exiting the game, Williams had three points on 1 of 5 shooting from the field. He’s been one of the Tigers most complete players all season, stuffing the stat sheet with 13.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game.

Kentucky controlled much of the contest vs. Auburn on Saturday night. The Tigers attempted to battle back on a number of occasions, but every time they hit a few shots to get back in the game, the Wildcats made critical buckets to keep their distance.

Antonio Reeves has been averaging 19.4 points per game for Kentucky and he played big in the massive road win on Saturday. He poured in 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds in their 70-59 win. It was Kentucky’s first win at Auburn since 2019.

Kentucky had one of their best defensive performances of the season, limiting Auburn to just 18.2% shooting from three-point range (4-22) and just 30.9% from the field (17-55). With the loss, the Tigers dropped to 20-6 overall and 9-4 in the SEC. Kentucky improved to 18-7 overall and 8-4 in the SEC.