Mark Pope describes his emotions with multiple players getting hurt in Tennessee game

The Kentucky Wildcats earned an emotional win over the Tennessee Volunteers on Tuesday night. However, head coach Mark Pope knows that the win didn’t come without the loss of multiple key players.

Two key players for Kentucky,  Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson battled with injuries on Tuesday. After the game, Pope shared some of the emotions that he went through watching his players get hurt and be unable to compete.

“Mostly, in the moment, I was just feeling for Lamont,” Mark Pope said. “These are — we feel this all the time, and we don’t have that much time left. And he’s been so incredible. Such a winner and such a leader, and it’s just like, I just want him so badly to be able to play. Like my heart’s broken for Jax right now, because he deserves to be out there on the court and be a part of this super senior year. He’s helped build this identity that we have right now. So that was the biggest thing.”

Butler had previously been dealing with a shoulder injury and seemed to reaggravate it battling for a loose ball. He would not return to the game. Robinson, meanwhile, had a brace on his wrist in the pregame and was unable to play at all.

“I do trust that we’ll find a way to get those guys healthy as soon as possible,” Pope said. “But that was my biggest my biggest thought in the moment was just like, ‘Oh man, there’s nobody that wants to be on the sport more than Lamont Butler.’”

Coming up, Kentucky is looking to make a move in the SEC standings late in the regular season. That run will start with a road trip to Texas on Saturday.

Mark Pope casts grim outlook for Kentucky stars Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson

Unfortunately, when Mark Pope did share an update on the injuries that Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson are battling, it wasn’t a positive one. Instead, the pair have a grim outlook that they’re facing.

“I’m not sure we’re going to get him [Robinson] back anytime soon,” Pope said. “But I’m hoping, I’m praying that we get him back sooner.”

The case for Lamont Butler isn’t clear. However, it did give Mark Pope a scare on the floor.

“Lamont’s was super scary,” Pope said. “It was right in front of me. He went down and the second he went down, you could kind of see as he extended out that it just torqued his shoulder a little bit. Exactly what we didn’t want to do… We’ll patchwork it together, keep figuring it out. I think he was brilliant tonight.”

Pope was unable to give specific updates on either injury. Until they return, the Wildcats are now going to need to find a way to overcome those injuries in one of the toughest conferences in the country.