Mark Pope woke up at 3 a.m. worried neither Lamont Butler nor Jaxson Robinson would play

After losing four of five, Kentucky needed a win in the worst way. Last night, it looked like the Cats would have to get it without two of their best players. Jaxson Robinson injured his right wrist during Friday’s practice, joining Lamont Butler (shoulder) on the initial SEC Availability Report. Thankfully, both Robinson and Butler played today, helping Kentucky get the 80-57 win over South Carolina, but Mark Pope told reporters that he woke up in the middle of the night scared he wouldn’t have either.

“It means a lot,” Pope said of being able to get a win. “I woke up at three o’clock in the morning after sleeping for two hours and couldn’t go back to sleep because I really, genuinely didn’t know if I was going to walk into the gym and have no Lamont and no Jaxson and no Kerr, right?”

“So, this game is really important. One, because it’s win, but two, because it got those guys on the floor, they got through the game, and they’re still alive. And every day we can get them where they can be a little healthier is a bonus. So that’s probably one of the best parts of the game. But the fact that we could do it with a win, and is really, really important.”

Butler played 23 minutes, finishing with eight points (2-5 FG, 4-5 FT), 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 rebound and a steal. Pope gave him some grief for his missed layup at the start of the game, evidence that he’s knocking off the rust and getting used to playing with the brace on his shoulder.

“I’m going to tease Lamont about his first layup at the rim. Did you guys remember that? It was really shaky, but that’s what happens when you haven’t dribbled the ball for two weeks, right? But he was terrific. He got better and better. But having him a couple of game reps, we know how potent he is, and he’s going to learn how to do it a different way. He’s wearing a brace. It’s like a tank on his shoulder, but it’s really nice to have him back.”

It’s not a coincidence that Kentucky played one of its best defensive games of the season with Butler back in the lineup. The Cats held the Gamecocks to just 57 points on 32.8% shooting, their best defensive marks in SEC play. Pope was happy with his entire team for how they played on defense, giving special kudos to Koby Brea, but there’s no denying that Butler being on the floor makes a huge difference.

“It very much helped us having Lamont back, just his presence. He’s kind of, you know, we just taped him up and rolled him out there, but his presence certainly helped us.”

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More details on Jaxson Robinson’s wrist

Robinson finished with 6 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in 20 minutes. He was 2-8 from the floor, the injury to his shooting wrist clearly bothering him. Twice in the second half, he checked out of the game, clutching it in pain. During his postgame conversation with Tom Leach, Pope shared some more details on Robinson’s injury, which occurred when he collided with Brandon Garrison during Friday’s practice.

“Jax was super questionable. He took a really tough — he and BG had a major collision, and Jax lost yesterday in practice. Practice had been pretty fiery the last couple of days, so we were really nervous about Jax. In fact, he went and got an X-ray, and the X-ray we got last night was scary, and then he went right to get a CT scan, and that kind of resolved some of it. So early this morning, I was like, I don’t know if I have Lamont or Jax, and definitely don’t have Kerr so then I was looking through BBN and was like, who is going to come be my point guard?

“So, there was nobody happier than me coming in this morning, and those guys giving it a shot, and they’re both really courageous. Neither of them feel quite right, but they’re getting on the floor, and they’re going to continue to get better, and that’s super hopeful.”

When Butler needed a break, Robinson slid back over to the point guard spot and held his own, dishing four assists to zero turnovers, bad wrist and all.

“He got downhill, and he was really, really solid. He was great defensively, which is the thing that was most important to us. And it was really a heroic effort. You know, a lot of guys in that condition, where he really didn’t have much mobility in his wrist might have called it, and he’s just like, nope, I’m coming to do this for my team, and I’m super grateful he did.”

Continue to send those healing vibes to the Joe Craft Center ahead of Tuesday night’s matchup with No. 4 Tennessee.