Lamont Butler injury update: Status, preparation revealed for NCAA Tournament game vs. Troy

Less than an hour before tip-off against Troy in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, Kentucky head coach Mark Pope confirmed Lamont Butler will start for the Wildcats. However, he also noted Butler hasn’t had any “live practice reps” since leaving Kentucky’s SEC Tournament win over Oklahoma with an undisclosed injury.

Butler didn’t play in Kentucky’s blowout loss against Alabama in the SEC Tournament after suffering an injury in the previous game. Many fans initially feared Butler had aggravated his pre-existing shoulder injury, which has kept him out of eight games this season.

Alas, Butler’s injury against Oklahoma was reportedly not correlated with his shoulder injury. Now, with eight days to recover since the injury, Butler will look to boost the Wildcats to a win in the first round against Troy.

Butler is a pivotal piece to Kentucky’s roster this season. He’s averaging 11.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game while shooting 49.2% from the field and 36.2% from beyond the arc.

Lamont Butler is even more important to Kentucky’s defense than its offense. The San Diego State transfer is a former Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Year and often matches up with opposing teams’ best players.

Kerr Kriisa addresses future at Kentucky

On Thursday, Kentucky guard Kerr Kriisa talked directly to the media for the first time since suffering a season-ending foot fracture 90-89 win over Gonzaga on Dec. 7. The fifth-year senior addressed the possibility of using his medical redshirt and returning to Kentucky next season.

“It’s been very interesting. I don’t want to talk about next year because it really doesn’t matter. We’re in March. We have the biggest games of the year right now,” Kriisa said. “I don’t know if I want to do another three months of college. College summers are long. I might go overseas. We’ll see.”

Despite Kriisa’s initial hesitation to discuss his future with the program, he also didn’t seem eager to run it back in Lexington next season. Kriisa transferred to Kentucky from West Virginia this past offseason after spending one season with the Mountaineers.

He began his collegiate career at Arizona, where he played three seasons. Before getting injured this season, Kriisa averaged 4.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 27.9% from the field and 26.3% from beyond the arc.

Despite Kriisa’s lackluster shooting numbers, he was a valuable sparkplug off the bench for Kentucky. Before leaving the game against Gonzaga, Kriisa tallied eight points, three rebounds and four assists.

On the play he was injured, he left a lasting impression in fans’ minds by rushing back to defend Gonzaga’s fastbreak after initially falling. Although Kriisa hasn’t been able to get in the box score since his injury, he hasn’t stopped contributing to the team and constantly cheers on his teammates from the sidelines.