Jacob Toppin's ankle 'fine' after injury scare vs. Mississippi State

Kentucky is already playing shorthanded due to injury, so when forward Jacob Toppin rolled his ankle early in the first half of a game against Mississippi State a collective breath-holding took place in the Bluegrass State.

Exhale now, Kentucky fans. Toppin’s injury isn’t feared to be serious.

For one, Topping finished out the game playing on his ankle, adding 16 points in a 71-68 win over Mississippi State.

“I kind of rolled my ankle,” Toppin said after the game. “I tried to do a one dribble pull-up to the left and I kind of rolled my ankle. But I’m fine. It happens. I just knew I had to keep playing.”

The senior forward also managed to chip in three rebounds, two assists and two steals in the game for Kentucky. It was a huge game, too.

Kentucky sits on the NCAA Tournament bubble, so it’ll need Toppin to be pretty close to full strength for the home stretch. The good news is the 6-foot-9 senior sounded unconcerned after the game.

“Get treatment tomorrow, I’ll be fine,” Toppin said.

Kentucky playing with a sense of urgency

Firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble, Kentucky is doing its best to play with a real sense of urgency as the regular season quickly comes to a close.

The Wildcats can’t afford to let many more opportunities slip if they hope to be dancing in March.

“I think that, around this time of the year, no matter what the circumstances or the situation you’re in? There’s a sense of urgency because you’re nearing the end. You’re nearing the conference tournament, you’re nearing the conference end, postseason play. All that stuff is starting and playing a factor,” assistant coach Chin Coleman said. “So I don’t think, other than us playing at a high level with some consistency, there’s a sense of urgency on that. And that’s a part of our preparation. But I think the elephant in the room is there.

“We know that the season is coming to an end. We’ve got six games left, we’ve got postseason, we’ve got the conference tournament. That’s in the parking lot but we’ve got to focus on today. Focus on winning today and not so much worry about that or put pressure on that. Win today, win our practice today, have a good walk-through, shoot-around, and all that … We can’t think about all of that right now. We have to live in the moment.”