Lamont Butler is still not ready for game action; Otega Oweh dealing with soreness

Can Kentucky keep winning without their star point guard?

The Kentucky Wildcats are riding high following their 78-73 win over the No. 8 Tennessee Volunteers. However, significant injury concerns remain for one of college basketball’s most promising teams this season.

Former Final Four hero and standout point guard Lamont Butler has battled multiple injuries throughout the season, most recently a shoulder issue that led to him missing Tuesday’s win in Knoxville.

Meanwhile, starting forward Andrew Carr has been plagued by a back for several weeks now, enough that he missed the loss to Vanderbilt before logging just two minutes at Tennessee, so he’s at least capable of playing right now.

After Tuesday’s game, head coach Mark Pope gave minor updates on the status of Carr and Butler heading into Saturday’s date with the Arkansas Razorbacks.

Then, during his radio call-in show on Wednesday, Pope gave a brief update on Butler, saying the veteran point guard isn’t ready for game action.

“As of today, Lamont Butler is not good to go tonight (if there was a game), but we’ll see how he is in the morning,” he said.

It can’t be emphasized enough just how important these two players are to Kentucky. Butler is one of the best two-way guards in America who can lock down just about anyone, while he’s averaging career-highs in points (13.2 per game), field-goal shooting (51.3%), 3-point shooting (40%), assists (4.8), and rebounds (2.9).

Carr, meanwhile, has been instrumental in many of Kentucky’s biggest wins, as his best performances tend to come on the big stage, beginning with his 17-point, six-board, and three-assist game in the Champions Classic win over now-No. 2 Duke.

While the Wildcats have proven they can win big games without one or both of these guys, it’s not realistic to think they’ll keep doing so against a daunting SEC schedule that currently features six more top-25 opponents over the final 11 games, five of which coming in the final eight games.

Saying this, it’s far more important to have Carr and Butler healthy for the NCAA Tournament. If that means taking a few extra regular-season losses, so be it. Even if this team somehow slips into the 5-to-7-seed range, they’ll still be capable of making a deep run in March Madness if everyone is healthy.

One other note: Pope said junior wing Otega Oweh is “sore” following Tuesday’s game, likely as a result of this hard fall that saw Oweh’s face smack off the floor, though he was able to finish the game.

Might be something to monitor on Friday’s SEC injury report, but it doesn’t sound like a long-term thing to worry about.