Lamont Butler injury update: Kentucky announces status vs. Alabama in SEC tournament

Lamont Butler has been ruled out for Friday’s game against Alabama in the SEC tournament, Kentucky announced on the SEC availability report. He suffered an injury in Thursday’s thrilling victory over Oklahoma and didn’t return.

Butler left Thursday’s game in the first half with a shoulder injury, SEC Network’s Molly McGrath said on the broadcast. At halftime, Mark Pope confirmed the UK point guard was undergoing “imaging,” which didn’t bode well for his status the rest of the way.

As for whether Butler would return at all during the SEC tournament, Pope didn’t say for sure. He added Kentucky would know more Friday, regarding the severity of the injury.

“We did some imaging at halftime and some manual testing,” Pope said. “We’ll know more probably by tomorrow. We’ll know a little more. … I’m not going to put him in harm’s way, for sure.”

Butler has been dealing with a shoulder injury since January and later missed time due to the issue. He returned in February, but got hurt just two games later before coming back Feb. 26. He was able to play the last four games of the regular season, but didn’t make it through a half in the SEC tournament as he aggravated it.

Lamont Butler is one of the biggest keys for Kentucky and a centerpiece of the backcourt. He leads the Wildcats with 4.3 assists while adding 11.5 points and shooting 36.2% from three-point territory.

Of course, he’s not the only injury UK is dealing with this season. Both Kerr Kriisa and Jaxson Robinson are out with season-ending issues, and Pope said the Wildcats will be able to navigate a potential absence for Butler. It will just be a group effort.

“You go through so many emotions,” Pope said. “It’s hard to explain. I was really proud of our guys and our team because your, your heart is just breaking for, for this, for Lamont. I mean, we already got Jax sitting over there, now Lamont misses the opportunity to be a part of this. And then, it is devastating. Like, it’s devastating, guys, for him. It just is like, ugh. It is like a gut punch.

“And so you’re kind of dealing with that emotion but trying to put it away so you can just stay focused on the game and our guys did an unbelievable job doing that. We’ll put it together, piece by piece.”