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Jeff Borzello
Kentucky senior Lamont Butler, who has started 17 games for the Wildcats this season, is out for Tuesday night’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’s not 100%.
“Lamont, he’s got a lot right now. We all know what a warrior he is,” Pope said. “He is giving us everything he’s got right now. But it’s hard for him, physically, right now.”
Butler, who transferred to Kentucky last spring after four seasons at San Diego State, has been one of the best guards in the SEC. He’s averaging 13.2 points, 4.8 assists and 1.8 steals, shooting 40% from 3-point range.
Earlier this season versus Louisville, Butler had 32 points and six assists, shooting a perfect 10-for-10 from the field and 6-for-6 from 3-point range. He also had 19 points and eight assists in an early-January win over Florida.
Without Butler, look for Jaxson Robinson to shoulder more of the ballhandling responsibilities. Robinson had five assists against Gonzaga when Butler was out earlier this season and also ran the offense against Colgate in a game both Butler and Kerr Kriisa missed.
Kentucky is looking to regain some consistency, having lost two games in a row to Alabama and Vanderbilt and going just 4-4 in its past eight games after starting out with 10 wins in its first 11 games.
In addition to Butler being out, the SEC Student-Athlete Availability Report listed forward Andrew Carr as questionable. Carr missed the Vanderbilt game with a back issue that has hampered him for a few weeks. Kriisa, who underwent ankle surgery in December, is also out.
No. 12 Kentucky (14-5, 3-3 SEC) heads to No. 8 Tennessee (17-3, 4-3 SEC) on Tuesday (7 p.m., ESPN).