Otega Oweh is 'gonna be fine' after hard fall while Lamont Butler is a 'minute-by-minute' deal

Big Blue Nation let out the loudest collective gasp in the history of mankind when Otega Oweh hit the deck following a tough baseline dunk late in the second half in Knoxville. He got caught on the rim, flipping his legs up and sending him to the floor face- and shoulder-first. In typical Tega-Tron fashion, though, the junior guard bounced back up unfazed by the vicious fall and finished the game.

Tough as nails, sure, but still human. Like anyone would be in his spot, Mark Pope says Oweh is pretty sore after the spill, but will ultimately be fine — hurt, not injured. Just needs a couple of days to heal those bumps and bruises before suiting back up against Arkansas.

“Sometimes you have to temper your practice. We have some guys that will go lighter (Thursday) than normal, just because they went through it yesterday. If you saw the game, Otega Oweh came down really, really hard, and bounced off the floor all the way back onto his feet. It was so violent,” Pope said during his call-in show Wednesday night. “He’s got a little bit of soreness — he’s actually gonna be fine, he’s healthy, but he’s gonna deal with some things.”

Where do things stand with Lamont Butler, who is currently dealing with a bruised shoulder? He was declared out the night before the Tennessee game, but said on Instagram Live afterward he’d ‘be back soon’ — much better than the ‘if and when we get him back, we’re gonna be elated’ verbiage Pope shared during the postgame press conference.

Not much to share a day removed from the win.

“As of today — like, when I left the office at 5:50 (PM), Lamont is not good to go tonight. We’ll see how he is in the morning,” Pope said. “We take it minute-by-minute. I told you I was checking in every five minutes, every media timeout to see if I could get him for the next media timeout last game.”

The good news? Other guys are stepping up with the Cats banged up, namely Ansley Almonor, Trent Noah, Travis Perry, and now, Collin Chandler — who had his best game as a Wildcat in Knoxville.

You never want to deal with injury issues, but if you do, exploring your depth and milking everything you can get out of those pieces can be a plus. That’s where Pope is now.

“Every time you have somebody that misses a couple reps or a day or a couple days in practice, it’s really an opportunity for you to flesh out some new things with your team,” Pope said. “And ultimately, if you do it well, then you start to plug holes and fill gaps and get to think more creatively. So it’s pretty fun process.”