John Calipari explains philosophy on injuries as Kentucky moves closer to March

John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats came back from a double-digit first-half deficit on Saturday to beat the No. 25 Alabama Crimson Tide by a 90-81 final, improving the Wildcats’ record to 22-5, and Calipari managed to work with a few injuries in his lineup.

Kentucky head coach John Calipari said he had two days to figure out “how in the hell [is Kentucky] going to play” without TyTy Washington and Sahvir Wheeler, and on Saturday, the Wildcats sure seemed to make due. After the win, Calipari explained how Kentucky manages injuries like this down the stretch of the season, explaining that the Wildcats are operating on the side of caution.

“We just don’t need nagging [injuries],” Calipari said. “So if you need to take another week off, take another week off.”

Clearly, Calipari isn’t taking any chances with his star guards down the stretch of the season, as Kentucky has four regular-season games left before the Wildcats enter postseason play.

John Calipari updates TyTy Washington, Sahvir Wheeler’s status following Alabama win

Calipari had leaned heavily on his pair of prolific point guards throughout the season, and to great success. Saturday was the first time all season that Kentucky didn’t have either of their primary ball handlers play even a minute. It might have to be an absence they’ll have to deal with moving forward.

“They may be out another couple of games. I need them healthy by March,” Calipari said.

Washington is battling said left lower leg injury he suffered a week ago vs. Florida, while Wheeler injured his right wrist Tuesday at Tennessee, while Wheeler was seen grabbing his wrist at the end of the Tennessee game. 

For the past few days leading up to Saturday’s game agains the Crimson Tide, John Calipari had hinted he’ll sit a few guys out against Alabama to make sure the team is healthy for the final stretch of the season. Fast forward to warm ups and the backcourt duo were nowhere to be seen. It wasn’t long after that Kentucky basketball confirmed both would be sidelined due to injury.

After looking at X-rays, John Calipari said Washington was day-to-day. He suited up against Tennessee on Tuesday and tried to give it a go, but was clearly not 100 percent. Less than a minute into the second half, Washington went down and had to limp to the bench and watched the rest of the game from the sidelines, clearly frustrated.

Sitting at 22-5 on the season, Kentucky just missed out on being a No. 1 seed in the March Madness committee’s initial top 16 and is No. 6 overall. To Calipari, that doesn’t mean much. He’s more confident in his team than ever after defeated a ranked team without two of his most reliable players.

“I like my team. There are good teams out there, but I’m taking this one,” Calipari said.

On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this report.