Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson make progress toward returns from injury for Kentucky

Are we on the cusp of a return for both Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson? Mark Pope said Kentucky’s injured guards are making progress to the point of participating in some on-court work Friday ahead of the team’s trip to Tuscaloosa.

For Butler, who is dealing with an injured shoulder, he will participate in live practice after getting some loose non-contact play throughout the week. That’s a sign his return could be on the horizon after missing back-to-back games. As for Robinson, out the last three games with a wrist injury, he will get some light skill work in Friday. That puts him behind Butler in terms of a return timeline, but also indicates clear progress is being made after being held out entirely since the South Carolina win on February 8.

“Lamont is going to get a little bit of live action today — modified,” Pope said. “Jax is going to be doing some skill stuff today.”

Will either of their returns come against Alabama? Pope slid in a note that made it sound like that’d be unlikely, indicating the Wildcats would have to take care of business with the guys they have available.

“Certainly, we’re missing pieces. We would love to get them back,” he said. “We hope we get them back at some point, but in the meantime, we’re going to go compete with what we have and we’re going to do it well.”

Butler is currently averaging 12.5 points, 4.6 assists and 2.8 rebounds per contest while shooting career-highs overall (50.9 percent) and from three (38.5 percent) in 19 games played. As for Robinson, he’s second on the team with 13.3 points to go with 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 23 total games played.

Kentucky needs both players back at some point, and if you listen to Mark Pope, it sounds like that may not be too far away.