Mark Pope on Lamont Butler's shoulder injury: "It just doesn't seem fair"

After everyone caught their breath after that finish, there was one big question: what’s the latest on Lamont Butler? Mark Pope said that the team will know more once they get the imaging on Butler’s shoulder back on Friday, but what he said after that didn’t sound promising.

“I mean, you go through so many emotions. It’s hard to explain. I was really proud of our guys and our team because your heart is just breaking for Lamont. We already have Jaxson [Robinson] sitting over there. Now Lamont misses the opportunity to be a part of this. It is devastating. It’s devastating, guys, for him.

“It’s like a gut punch. You’re dealing with that emotion but trying to put it away so you can stay focused on the game. Our guys did an unbelievable job of doing that.

“We’ll put it together piece by piece. I’m praying like crazy, I will be, that he can find his way back on the floor at some point this year. It just doesn’t seem fair. This is not a fair game. I’m not saying that, but man, I would like so badly for him to be able to step on a court again. We’ll see how it goes.”

Butler left the game at the 9:35 mark in the first half. After having his shoulder worked on by the trainer on the sideline, he went to the locker room and didn’t come back until midway through the second half wearing a warm-up shirt instead of a jersey. He was eventually ruled out. His status for Friday’s game vs. Alabama remains uncertain.

“I’m not going to put him in harm’s way, for sure,” Pope said of whether or not Butler would play Friday night. “It’s hard because this matters. It’s hard to explain. When you walk into this arena and you finish a game like that, and the whole game, you see all these people, these Kentucky fans, it’s an arena full of Kentucky fans. Most of these fans probably have never been able to watch a game at Rupp because they can’t get in, so they save and plan for a year to come here and do this.

“I know that sounds unique, and it is really unique. And so there’s this just this massive pull of our guys, like, this is our family that we want to take care of, we want to perform for, and we have to be — we want this to be great, especially for them. And also, you’re also thinking about the NCAA Tournament. So this is real for us. This matters for us. And the NCAA Tournament obviously matters for us. And so, we’ll just figure it out the best we can. We’ll make the best decisions for Lamont we can, for sure.”

Get well soon, Lamont. Also, Mark Pope really gets it.