Mark Pope conducted his weekly radio show with Tom Leach on Monday evening just two days off the team’s impressive overtime win against top-seven ranked Gonzaga. Kentucky was without their starting point guard in Lamont Butler, who tweaked his ankle at Clemson the game prior.

He was set for a game-time decision against Gonzaga, but ultimately did not suit up. As you’d expected, Mark Pope was asked about the status of Butler tonight from fans calling in to the show, so he gave an update on his current status.

“It’s day-to-day right now… I’m hoping to see him on the court tomorrow, so we will see how that goes.”

Says during practice tomorrow they will know much more and can get a better feel for it as he didn’t participate in physical activity with the team on Monday. 

He would continue with, “We are really feeling sooner rather than later. It’s really a matter of days.”

So that’s great news because this team looks vastly different without him mixed in to the rotation. As fans also know, Kentucky is without its backup point guard in Kerr Kriisa at the moment as he suffered an injury in the Gonzaga game, making that room of the roster super thin to say the least.

Mark Pope said that during practice the players that have been getting the point guard reps in replace of Lamont and Kerr have been Jaxson Robinson, Travis Perry, and Collin Chandler. In my opinion, it feels like the order of the depth chart would be Butler first, then Kriisa next, then Robinson, then Perry, then Chandler as the last option, so we’ll see just how quick Lamont will return giving this team what they’re most comfortable with. 

Thankfully the next opponent is a 2-8 Colgate team on Wednesday in Rupp Arena, so it’s not necessary to have him back super quick for that one. What really matters is when the team hosts in-state rival Louisville on Saturday afternoon, where we need him healthy and available for. Not that I’m overly concerned about the outcome of that game or anything, but it seems like the Cardinals for once have a solid chance of keeping things a little competitive in a way that we haven’t seen in many years, so let’s make sure we don’t manage to let things stay too close for too long during it.

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