Mark Pope had promising and not promising updates on Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson

It was impressive enough that Kentucky was able to beat Tennessee without Lamont Butler. Tonight, they did it again without Jaxson Robinson and Butler for the final 8:40 after Kentucky’s starting point guard re-aggravated his shoulder injury. When will Kentucky get Robinson and Butler back? Mark Pope had updates on both after the game.

Let’s start with Robinson, who missed his first game of the season with a right wrist injury suffered in practice last Friday. Robinson sported a brace during today’s game. Pope’s update on him was the least optimistic of the two.

“Jax is, you know, I’m not sure we’re gonna get him back anytime soon, but I’m hoping, I’m praying that we get him back sooner,” Pope said in his postgame press conference.

“My heart’s broken for Jax right now, because, you know, he deserves to be out there on the court and be a part of this. He’s a super senior, and he’s helped build this identity that we have right now. And so that was the biggest thing. I do trust that we’ll find a way to get those guys healthy as soon as possible.”

What about Butler, who tweaked his injured shoulder going after a ball? Pope said that, like the rest of BBN, his heart plummeted when the moment happened and Butler sat up, holding it in pain.

“Lamont just was super scary. Like, it was right in front of me. He went down, and the second he went down, you could kind of see as he extended out, that it just torqued his shoulder a little bit, and it was just exactly what we didn’t want to do.

“He was incredible. And he was brave tonight, too. I mean, he’s playing as a one-arm bandit out there, and he’s just working for his team, so we’ll patchwork it together. We’ll keep figuring out.”

From the very start, it was clear that Butler was dialed in for his first go at the Vols. Right after tipoff, he stole the ball and scored, bringing Rupp Arena to its feet.

“I thought he was brilliant tonight,” Pope said of Butler. “I thought he was great. He got the first steal on the first possession. Talk about a statement of like, ‘Hey, we’re going to guard.’ And what was really fun was I didn’t even see him race down the floor and score the layup because my eyes were drawn to Otega Oweh. I thought he was going to run up in the crowd and body surf he was so excited about the defensive play and that sets a good tone for our team. So, I’m hopeful that you can get that healthy as soon as possible. We’ll see.”

The injury bug has refused to leave Lexington this season. While Robinson’s wrist may keep him out longer than we’d like, Pope is hopeful Butler can return to the court soon.

“Well, mostly in the moment, I was just feeling for Lamont. We feel this all the time. We don’t have that much time left, and he’s been so incredibly, such a winner and such a leader. And it’s just like, I just want him so badly to be able to play.

“But that was my biggest thought in the moment was just like, oh man. There’s nobody who wants to be on this court more than Lamont Butler.”

Where does Kentucky go without Butler and/or Robinson?

Kentucky plays at Texas on Saturday night. The Cats were able to survive the final eight-plus minutes of the game without their top two point guard options, but if one or both can’t go in Austin, Pope said it will be point guard by committee once again. In the last stanza vs. the No. 5 team in the country, it worked.

“I thought tonight was really special, guys. We have Kerr Kriisa sitting on the bench, we’ve got Lamont Butler sitting on the bench, and we got Jaxson Robinson, who’s our, like, retrofitted point guard, sitting on the bench, and, and then we got our Amari and [Travis Perry] is not naturally a point guard, but we’re kind of shoving him in there as a freshman.

“To me, it felt like a really heroic effort on behalf of our whole team. And Amari Williams is, he’s a stabilizing force. Like, he kind of can bail us out of some complicated situations as a point center, and we’ve talked about a lot, but he really is, I mean, I don’t know anybody else in college basketball that’s doing what he’s doing. It’s really remarkable.”

With every night in the SEC being a battle and March fast approaching, it’s hard to look at the big picture. While Butler’s timeline to return may be quicker than Robinson’s, Pope is hopeful both will be back with the team in time for a postseason run.

“Every day we’re kind of checking in, but there’s a chance that [Jax] is going to be a little while also, but I do have high, high hopes that we’re going to get both those guys back, and we’ve just got to stay above water the best we can until we get healthy and these guys are really trying to do that together.”