Even though Lamont Butler and Kerr Kriisa were hurt, UK beat Gonzaga; Mark Pope gives a short report.

Lamont Butler, a first-year guard for the Kentucky Wildcats who transferred from San Diego State, hurt his right ankle on Saturday night and couldn’t play in their game against Gonzaga. It’s the same ankle Butler hurt when they lost to Clemson on Tuesday night.

Mark Pope, the head coach, was very hoping that Butler would play on Saturday, but it was clear during the shootaround that he wouldn’t.

Today Butler came to shoot around, and Pope said, “We tried to push it a little bit, but it just wasn’t working.” “I believe Lamont is doing well.”

So far this season, Butler has scored 12.9 points per game, which is the most of his career. He also makes 55.1% of his shots from the field and gives out 3.9 assists per game.

“I can’t believe his numbers.” Pope said this Thursday about Butler, “I’m so proud of him.” “For a fifth-year player, he’s been really willing to learn, try new things, and adopt some things for us. The progress he’s made in his numbers in the first eight games is huge.”

Butler wasn’t there for the first half, when Gonzaga jumped out to a 50-34 lead.

Thank goodness Kentucky was able to pull off the win. Backup point guard Kerr Kriia played a part in that. The win over Gonzaga was his eighth, thanks to three boards, four assists, and only one turnover. He made 3/7 shots and 2/5 from deep.

Kriisa unfortunately left the game with an injury to his lower leg around the middle of the second half and never came back. Pope later said that the senior had hurt his “foot/ankle.”

Pope said to Kerr, “Kerr is tough as nails, so it will take a lot to keep him out. We’ll go get some imaging as soon as we get back and kind of see where he stands.”

While UK was celebrating after the game, Kriisa could be seen in a lot of pain in the dressing room.

Both players were out for most of the second half and OT, so Jaxson Robinson played point guard. He had his best game as a Wildcat, scoring 18 points on 7/15 shooting (2/5 on 3-point shots), grabbing three rebounds, stealing one, and setting up five assists to one turnover.

Cheers to hope that both Kriisa and Butler get better quickly and return to the team.