Amari Williams expects Brandon Garrison back for Kentucky this week

Kentucky did not take on Georgia State at full strength on Friday, Brandon Garrison a late scratch against the Panthers due to soreness. The sophomore center watched his teammates warm up in sweats before Mark Pope officially ruled him out ahead of the opening tip.

“We’ll hold BG out tonight, more as a precaution than anything else,” Pope said. “He’s dealing with just a little bit of soreness. We just like to be as healthy as we can be before we put him on the floor again.”

It was the first injury-related absence of the season for a core rotation player, although Kerr Kriisa dealt with a tweaked hamstring during exhibition play. Garrison had averaged 6.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.2 blocks in 18.5 minutes per game this season up to that point. With the Oklahoma State transfer out, Andrew Carr (32) and Ansley Almonor (24) saw major increases in playing time while Amari Williams was in the ballpark of his season average (19.4 MPG) with 20 minutes.

Will the Wildcats get Garrison back this week with back-to-back trips away from Rupp Arena on Tuesday and Saturday, starting with the team’s first true road game of the season at Clemson, followed by a cross-country trek to Seattle to take on No. 7 Gonzaga? If you ask his companion piece at the five, it sounds like a return is on the horizon.

“Thankfully it wasn’t that long, him being out,” Williams said Monday. “… Only having him around, just shooting around (at practice), it was tough. I’m glad he’s going to be back this week with us. It’ll be good.”

That’s fairly significant news for the Cats, especially if Garrison can suit up against a tough Clemson frontcourt that includes 6-8, 240-pound big Ian Schieffelin (12.5 PPG and 11.6 RPG) and 6-11, 245-pound center Viktor Lakhin (11.1 PPG and 5.4 RPG).

“It’s just about rebounding,” Williams added. “They’re a good rebounding team. If we just handle that side of the game, do what we’ve done against every other team so far, I feel like we’ll come out with the victory.”

The Wildcats will take on the Tigers at Clemson on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. ET, live on ESPN.