Mark Pope woke up at 3 o’clock is concerned neither Lamont Butler nor Jaxson Robinson would play

After losing four of five, Kentucky needed a win in the worst way. Last night it seemed that the cats should get it without two of their best players. Jaxson Robinson injured his right wrist during Friday’s practice, along with Lamont Butler (shoulder) on the initial SEC accessibility report. Fortunately, both Robinson and Butler played today and helped Kentucky get the 80-57 victory over South Carolina, but Mark Pope told reporters he woke up in the middle of the night afraid he didn’t want either.

“It means a lot,” Pope said of being able to win. “I woke up at three in the morning after sleeping for two hours and couldn’t go back to sleep because I really didn’t really know if I should go into the gym and no kerr, right? “

“So this game is really important. One because it is victory, but two because it got these guys on the floor, they came through the game and they are still alive. And every day we can get them where they can be a little healthier is a bonus. So it’s probably one of the best parts of the game. But the fact that we could do it with a win, and is really, really important. “

Butler played 23 minutes and ended with eight points (2-5 fg, 4-5 ft), 3 assists, 2 revenue, 1 rebound and a steal. Pope gave him some grief over his unanswered set -up at the start of the game, proof that he turns off the rust and gets used to playing with stags on his shoulder.

“I want to tease Lamont about his first layup at the edge. Did you remember? It was really shaking, but that’s what happens when you haven’t dribbled the ball for two weeks, right? But he was amazing. He got better and better. But having him a couple of game representatives, we know how potent he is and he will learn to do it in a different way. He has a stag. It’s like a tank on his shoulder, but it’s really nice to have him back. “

It’s not a coincidence that Kentucky played one of his best defensive matches in the season with Butler back in the lineup. The cats kept gamecocks for only 57 points on 32.8% shooting, their best defensive brands in the SEC game. Pope was happy with his entire team for how they played on the defense, giving special cudos to Koby Brea, but no one denies that butler is on the floor makes a huge difference.

“It helped us a lot with lamont back, just his presence. He is kind of, you know we just taped him up and rolled him out there, but his presence helped us definitely. “

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-5-9DP7MB4

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More details of Jaxson Robinson’s wrist

Robinson ended with 6 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 20 minutes. He was 2-8 from the floor, the damage to his shooting hand bothered him clearly. Twice in the second half he checked out of the game and grabbed it in pain. During his conversation after Tom Leach, Pope shared some more details about Robinson’s injury, which took place when he collided with Brandon Garrison during Friday’s practice.

“Jax was super questionable. He took a really tough – he and BG had a bigger collision, and Jax lost yesterday in practice. Exercise had been pretty fiery for the past few days, so we were really nervous about Jax. In fact, he went and got an X-ray, and the X-ray we got last night was scary, and then he went just to get a CT scan, and that kind of resolved some of it. So early this morning I was like, I don’t know if I have Lamont or Jax, and certainly don’t have Kerr, so I saw through BBN and was like who’s going to be my point guard?

“So there was no happier than me coming this morning, and the guys who gave it a shot and they are both really brave. None of them feel just right, but they come to the floor and they will continue to get better and it is super hopeful. “

When Butler needed a break, Robinson slipped back to the Point Guard site and held his own, four assists to zero revenue, bad wrist and all.

“He came downhill and he was really, really solid. He was great defensively, which is the thing that was most important to us. And it really was a heroic effort. You know, many guys in the state where he really didn’t have much mobility in his wrist may have called it, and he’s like, no, I’m going to do this for my team and I’m super grateful he did. “

Continue to send the healing Vibber to Joe Craft Center ahead of Tuesday evening’s matchup with # 4 Tennessee.