Mark Pope provides injury updates on Lamont Butler, Andrew Carr following Tennessee win

Kentucky was essentially down two key starters in Tuesday’s 78-73 win over Tennessee. Lamont Butler (shoulder) was ruled out Monday while Andrew Carr (back) saw less than two minutes of action. And while the Wildcats will need those two moving forward the rest of this season, the rest of the team found a way to pull off the upset without them.

Jaxson Robinson and seven-footer Amari Williams filled in as the make-shift point guards against the Volunteers. Robinson poured in 17 points while Williams posted his fifth double-double of the season. Head coach Mark Pope ran with mostly a five-man rotation throughout the second half. Kentucky shot 50 percent from the field and went 12-24 from deep against the nation’s top-ranked defense.

It was a gritty, gutsy win from a short-handed team that needed this kind of victory. But there’s still a long way to go this season. Having Butler and Carr back in the fold at some point will be necessary to potential longterm success.

How soon will that happen? Pope provided a bit of clarity on both after the win.

Pope on Lamont Butler’s injury

“There’s multiple factors in it,” Pope said. “Some is gonna get better and the other we’ll see. I’m an eternal optimist so every media timeout I was checking with (trainer) Brandon Wells to see if he was ready to go yet. He never gave me the thumbs up. But Lamont is the heart and soul of this team, as you know. If and when we get him back, we’re gonna be elated. We certainly need him.”

The “if and when” part of Pope’s quote quickly made its rounds on social media. I personally wouldn’t read too much into it though. There have been previous injury statements from Pope this season where a player ended up being available despite a less-than-inspiring update a day or two before — and vice versa.

Butler has now missed three games this season due to various ailments. He’s Kentucky’s second-leading scorer this season at 13.2 points and 4.8 assists per outing. If you’re looking for a positive sign, Butler said he’ll “be back soon” during Brandon Garrison‘s postgame Instagram Live video.

Brandon Garrison went live after the HUGE WIN over Tennessee.

Get me HYPED. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kflgqIvntj

— Casey (@BleedBlueCasey) January 29, 2025

Pope on Andrew Carr’s injury

“The last 36 hours have been anguish trying to figure out what to do with Drew because we don’t want to rush him back because we could end up with a — we don’t want to battle this back,” Pope said. “It’s like every day that we can buy him is a day where we have a little more security that he’ll have some sustainability. So he felt good before the game. We kind of rolled him out there for a couple of minutes and I don’t think he felt great on the court. Not injury-wise, just timing-wise. He hasn’t practiced in three weeks.”

Carr’s back issue seems a bit more touch-and-go. He’s been dealing with nagging back pain for weeks now. It wasn’t until the loss to Vanderbilt over the weekend that he finally missed a game though. The 6-foot-11 forward was then listed as questionable on Monday’s SEC Availability Report and was ultimately made available less than two hours before tipoff. But after a very quick stint in the first half against Tennessee, he didn’t take the floor again.

“Clearly he’s a massive piece of what we’re trying to do,” Pope added. Carr is averaging 10.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game this season for the ‘Cats. He and Butler have another few days of rest before Kentucky takes the floor again on Saturday against Arkansas in John Calipari‘s highly-anticipated return to Rupp Arena.

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