Without TyTy Washington, Kentucky's fast-paced offense disappeared

When TyTy Washington left Saturday’s game at the 8:20 mark of the first half, his Kentucky Wildcats were ahead 25-16. The freshman guard was the one who put UK up by nine on the road against the No. 2 Auburn Tigers, drilling a mid-range jumper before landing awkwardly on his left ankle.

He would walk back to the locker room under his own power, but unfortunately, Washington would not return the rest of the way. He was eventually ruled out at halftime with what UK listed as a “left ankle injury”. From that point on, over the next 32 minutes of gameplay, Kentucky was outscored by 18 points, losing by nine at the final buzzer, 80-71. It also didn’t help the Wildcats’ cause that point guard Sahvir Wheeler was in-and-out of the lineup in the second half after getting knocked down multiple times by brick-wall screens.

Without Washington on the court, Kentucky’s once fast-paced offense nearly collapsed within itself.

“That hurt us. No excuses though, we had our chances to win,” UK head coach John Calipari said postgame of Washington’s absence.

John Calipari on TyTy Washington's ankle injury: "That hurt us. No excuses, we had our chances to win, but that hurt."

— Jack Pilgrim (@JackPilgrimKSR) January 22, 2022

In his nine minutes of action, Washington posted four points, one assist, and one steal. He was +8 during that time, orchestrating a UK offense that was humming and getting to the rim with ease. Kentucky started the game 10-20 from the floor and was on pace for 90 points before Washington went down. Instead, UK barely scraped its way to 71 points.

“It hurts us,” Calipari added, “(TyTy is) a playmaker, whether he’s on the ball, off the ball, whether we run stuff for him, when he needs to go get a basket he gets it. We don’t have those guys.”

Without its star guard, the Wildcats’ quick-hitting offense came to a screeching halt. Kentucky actually continued to shoot the ball well, efficiency-wise, finishing the afternoon 29-58 overall (50 percent), but it was the number of possessions that shrunk. UK went from quickly getting into its rhythm with Washington on the floor to playing outside the perimeter without him.

“He’s able to make plays for others,” UK guard Kellan Grady said postgame. “When you have multiple playmakers on the court and you’ve got finishers on the court, that makes the game easier.

“The thing about TyTy is he seemingly makes the right play almost every time. He’s patient and he’s just another playmaker–that obviously would have helped us if he would have been out there.”

As Calipari mentioned though, Kentucky still had a chance to win the game. UK led by four at the intermission and never let Auburn bust the game wide open in the second half. Kentucky shot 15-29 (51.7 percent) from the floor and 4-5 from deep in the second half, turning the ball over just five times–impressive numbers on the surface.

But UK could never establish any momentum and consistently found itself watching the shot clock dwindle down out of actionless halfcourt sets. The ‘Cats needed Washington in the worst way to help penetrate and create. Without him, and also without Wheeler at different moments, the offense became far more predictable.

As of right now, there is no update on Washington’s ankle, and there likely won’t be one until the weekend is over. Kentucky next plays at home on Tuesday against Mississippi State with another tough road game coming Saturday against the No. 7 Kansas Jayhawks. If Washington can’t go, offensive adjustments will clearly need to be made.