Tennessee may also be short-handed vs. Kentucky

While most Kentucky basketball fans are concerned about the health of the Wildcats’ backcourt, they aren’t the only ones dealing with injury issues. Tennessee will likely be short-handed for Saturday’s rematch at Rupp Arena.

SEC assist leader Sahvir Wheeler has missed three straight games with an ankle injury. CJ Fredrick, who knocked down three three-pointers in the first game against Tennessee, joined Wheeler on the sideline for the previous two games after suffering a cracked rib. There’s no indication either will be available for tomorrow’s meeting with the Vols.

While the Cats are struggling with depth in the backcourt, Tennessee is light in the frontcourt. Josiah-Jordan James has missed back-to-back games with an ankle injury, while Julian Phillips was absent from Wednesday night’s win over Alabama with a hip injury. Rick Barnes shared the latest on each player Friday morning.

“I think it will be a game-time decision based on where we are right now,” said the Tennessee head coach.

James and Phillips are the fourth and fifth-best scorers on the team, averaging 9.5 and 9.0 points per game, respectively, while combining to haul in more than 10 rebounds per game for the Vols. Phillips, a 6-foot-8 freshman from Bylthewood, SC, was a non-factor in the first meeting against Kentucky. James struggled, making only 2-8 shots in 28 minutes of action. The 6-foot-6 senior swingman has missed 10 games this year, primarily in December, due to injury.

Tennessee Hungry for a Win

The last time these two teams met, Kentucky had one of its best defensive performances of the year. Ranked fifth in the country at the time, the Vols made just 3-of-21 three-pointers to score 56 points in the loss to Kentucky. When asked which particular area of play Tennessee must improve, Rick Barnes was not concerned about specific stats. He just wants a win.

“The only thing that concerns me is if we win or lose. The fact that we do what we need to do to go into the game. There’s 10,000 stats out there and analytics, this, that or whatever. I guess you could take them and bend them anyway you want to,” said the Tennessee head coach.

“What I’m concerned with is that one, I’d like to see us get healthy but the fact of the matter is whatever we’ve got like the other night we’re going to go play and we’re going to go out and give it our best effort. I can live with it and, again, I’m probably one of the least guys that spends a lot of time looking at stats after games anyway. I do everything I do off the film. Stats can’t tell you all that. I just know that if we execute on offense and defense I think we can be a really good basketball team.”