Kentucky’s Lamont Butler for Miss Tuesday Game vs. Tennessee

Kentucky Senior Lamont Butler, who has started 17 games for Wildcats this season, is out on Tuesday evening’s trip to Tennessee.

Butler has been dealing with a shoulder injury, and coach Mark Pope said after Saturday’s loss to Vanderbilt that he is not 100%.

“Lamont, he has a lot right now. We all know what a warrior he is,” said Pope. “He gives us all he has right now. But it’s hard for him physically right now.”

Butler, transferred to Kentucky last spring after four seasons in San Diego State, has been one of the best guards in SEC. He average 13.2 points, 4.8 assists and 1.8 steal and shoot 40% from 3-point range.

Earlier this season against Louisville, Butler had 32 points and six assists, shooting a perfect 10-for-10 from the field and 6-for-6 from 3-point reach. He also had 19 points and eight assists in an early January victory over Florida.

Without Butler, look for Jaxson Robinson to shoulder more of the ball handling responsibility. Robinson had five assists against Gonzaga when Butler was out earlier this season and also ran the violation against Colgate in a game both Butler and Kerr Kriisa missed.

Kentucky is looking to regain a certain consistency, after losing two games in a row to Alabama and Vanderbilt and only goes 4-4 in his last eight games after starting with 10 wins in his first 11 games.

In addition to the fact that Butler is out, the SEC-student-athlete-accessibility report has set out Andrew Carr as questionable. Carr missed the Vanderbilt game with a back problem that has been hampering him for a few weeks. Kriisa, who underwent ankle surgery in December, is also out.

No. 12 Kentucky (14-5, 3-3 sec) leads to No. 8 Tennessee (17-3, 4-3 sec) Tuesday (19:00, ESPN).