CJ Fredrick in, Sahvir Wheeler out vs. Auburn

One of two injured Wildcats will give it a go today vs. Auburn. John Calipari said senior guard CJ Fredrick will play after missing four games with a cracked rib. Fellow senior guard Sahvir Wheeler (ankle) remains out for the sixth straight game.

“It means [CJ’s] rib is healing,” Calipari told Tom Leach on radio. “He practice yesterday so it looks like we can use him and I’ll talk to him prior to the game about how I’ll do it.”

“Didn’t practice yesterday,” Calipari said of Wheeler. “Didn’t do the shootaround today. His ankle is still the same.”

Fredrick cracked a rib colliding with a cameraman in Kentucky’s first win vs. Florida on Feb. 4. After attempting to play through the injury vs. Arkansas, he missed the next four games. He was spotted wearing a pad in his undershirt on his left rib during pregame warmups.

“He’s conditioned but it’s been hard,” Calipari said of Fredrick. “If you’ve ever had a broken rib, whatever you do, however you turn, even breathing is bothersome. But he’s been good.”

Calipari said he still plans to use backup guard Adou Thiero.

“You still need Adou coming in at point some. I like Adou [Thiero] backing up Chris [Livingston] because it gives us another offensive rebounder, another rebounder. You’ve got the three guards being Antonio and Cason but he’s probably backing up Chris.”

As for Wheeler, he is still recovering from an ankle injury suffered in practice earlier this month. He wore a boot for four games but had it off in Kentucky’s last two games vs. Tennessee and Florida.

Even having one of the two guards back is big. Cason Wallace has held down the fort as Kentucky’s primary ballhandler but has logged heavy minutes, playing 38 or more in three of the last four games. Even though Fredrick is a shooting guard, he has spelled Wallace and Wheeler at point at times this season, so having him back in the rotation is a relief.

Welcome back, CJ.