Report: Two key players not available for Kentucky against Alabama

TyTy Washington and Sahvir Wheeler are not on the court warming up for Kentucky for their matchup against Alabama at 1 p.m. Saturday, according to a report from KSR’s Zack Geoghegan. Kentucky head coach John Calipari said earlier in the week that the Wildcats may be without up to three players due to various injuries.

While Calipari didn’t list names, Washington is obviously dealing with a left lower leg injury, Sahvir Wheeler was seen grabbing his wrist at the end of the Tennessee game, and Jacob Toppin has been working his way back from an ankle injury. Toppin was seen getting shots up before doors were open and played 20 minutes against Tennessee on Tuesday.

Washington initially suffered the lower leg injury last Saturday vs. Florida when Gators guard Brandon McKissic crashed into him while going after a loose ball. After looking at X-rays, John Calipari said Washington was day-to-day. He suited up vs. Tennessee and tried to give it a go, but was clearly not 100%. Less than a minute into the second half, Washington limped to the bench and watched the rest of the game from the sidelines, clearly frustrated.

“He wanted to play,” Calipari said of Washington on Friday. “He wanted to help his team win. It’s hard to do that at 75-80%. You can’t. When you watch what we did, we started how we wanted to start and I liked where it was going, but his fight to want to win, it’s how he plays. He’s not worried about stats and you’ve got to do this, you’ve got to do that. He doesn’t listen to it. He shuts his phone off. The guys that listen have the weight of the world on them. You’ve got the weight of the world on you. Blame it on whoever you want to blame it on but he doesn’t do that. 

“But again, I’ve got to protect him at times from himself. His body language, he was mad it happened. Not mad at anything else. He knew he couldn’t go in because I wasn’t going to let him back in.”

The only time Kentucky has been without both of their star point guards this season was during the second half of the Wildcats’ 80-71 loss to Auburn on Jan. 22. Washington went down with an ankle injury and Wheeler ran into a hard screen, which forced him out of the game. Davion Mintz and Kellan Grady were tasked as UK’s primarily ball handlers, which will most likely be the case today.

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