Lamont Butler's status uncertain vs. Louisville: 'We'd like to get him back as soon as possible.'

Kentucky will be without Kerr Kriisa against Louisville on Saturday, but could the Wildcats have Lamont Butler back out there to ease the load at point guard?

“Lamont is getting a little bit better,” Head coach Mark Pope said after UK’s 78-67 win over Colgate on Wednesday night. “He was on the court a little bit today. Every day is kinda like we test him a little bit more and kinda see — we’ll know more tomorrow morning when he wakes up how he’s feeling, right?“

Butler, Pope’s starting point guard and arguably Kentucky’s most consistent player so far this season, has been sidelined for two games now. He rolled his ankle during the second half of the Wildcats’ loss to Clemson back on Dec. 3. Although he toughed it out and played the rest of that game, the pain kept him from taking the floor against Gonzaga and Colgate. Kentucky won both of those games, but not without issues that could have been solved by having Butler manning the controls.

“I would prefer if he rejoins our team on the floor sometime soon,” Pope said with a smile.

Through eight games played this season, Butler is averaging 12.9 points, 3.9 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in 22.5 minutes per outing. His on-ball defense alone makes him a necessity for Kentucky’s success, but his offensive game has come along nicely as well this season. He’s shooting 55.1 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from deep.

Kentucky has been able to get buy with sliding Jaxson Robinson over to point guard the last two times out, but Butler is needed to reach this team’s ceiling. Him missing the Louisville game on Saturday would not be ideal for the ‘Cats, especially with Kriisa also out.

“I’m hoping that he’s feeling great. We’d like to get him back as soon as possible,” Pope said. “We want to see him out here playing.”

Tipoff against the Cardinals on Saturday at Rupp Arena is set for 5:15 p.m. EST on ESPN.

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