Kentucky to be without 3 guards for Wednesday’s game against Vanderbilt

Tuesday’s SEC availability report shows that the Wildcats will be without Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson, and Kerr Kriisa. While Kriisa’s absence could lead to a medical redshirt, Kentucky coach Mark Pope indicated that Butler, who has dealt with a shoulder injury, is working toward a return. Robinson has been sidelined by a right wrist injury, leading Pope to joke about him playing left-handed.

For Lamont, he’s actually moving pretty well,” Pope said on the radio Monday, per On3. “He still hasn’t practiced with live play, but for him, it’s just a matter of how far along does he have to get where he could actually take a hit in the game? That’s the biggest question for him. That’s going to be a little bit of a guessing game. We’ll try and get him some live stuff in practice over the next week or so.”

For Jax, he still hasn’t done anything with his right hand. He’s done a ton of left-handed shooting and probably unsurprisingly, he’s making a lot of shots left-handed,” Pope said. “So I am actually pushing him to just tie up the right wrist, just get that thing safe in a big cast, and let’s go just play lefty on Wednesday. I’m not sure he’s prepared to do that.

Kentucky has plenty of motivation for Wednesday’s conference clash. The Wildcats are in bounce-back mode after a surprising 82-78 loss at Texas on Saturday in Austin. UK is also looking for revenge for the 74-69 loss to the Commodores in Nashville on Jan. 25.

Wednesday’s game is set for a 7 p.m. ET tipoff, airing on the SEC Network.