Another intense SEC men’s basketball matchup is set for Saturday afternoon in Nashville, where head coach Mark Pope and No. 9-ranked Kentucky (14-4, 3-2 SEC) will face off against Mark Byington’s Vanderbilt Commodores (15-4, 3-3 SEC) at Memorial Gym. Vanderbilt has shown significant improvement from last season, with Byington’s squad focusing on pushing the tempo, forcing turnovers, and attacking inside the 3-point line.
This style of play could present a tough challenge for the Wildcats, who are coming off a home loss to No. 4 Alabama last Saturday. Following that defeat, Kentucky has shifted its focus to getting healthy, as several players have appeared on recent SEC pregame injury reports.
Ahead of Saturday’s game, the SEC injury report for both teams was released Friday night, giving a glimpse into which players will be available. An updated injury report will be provided closer to the game’s 2:30 p.m. EST tip-off.
As for Kentucky’s injury situation, forward Andrew Carr is listed as questionable for the game, while guard Kerr Kriisa is confirmed to be out. Before last weekend’s matchup against Alabama, three Kentucky players were listed on the SEC injury report. Fifth-year guard Lamont Butler was initially questionable for that game but was later deemed a game-time decision.
Andrew Carr
Carr had been marked as probable initially but was eventually removed from the injury report altogether. Kriisa, the fifth-year guard from Estonia who previously played at Arizona and West Virginia, has been sidelined since suffering a foot injury on Dec. 7 during UK’s overtime win over Gonzaga. Kriisa underwent surgery shortly after, and although he was initially projected to miss six weeks, there is still no updated timeline for his return.
Pope provided an update on Kriisa’s recovery during his weekly radio show, stating, “His recovery has been completely predictable and scripted so far. We should know more in the coming weeks about whether it will speed up or become more complicated, but we’re moving into a window where we should have more information soon.”
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