Two-thirds of the way through the season, Kentucky Basketball has had to battle as many injuries as any team in the country.
Losing starting point guard Jaland Lowe and star big man Jayden Quaintance was the first blow, with rotational wing Kam Williams breaking his foot recently.
Though Kentucky has been riding a winning streak during all of this chaos, there are only so many bodies that head coach Mark Pope can put into his rotation.
While the injury to Lowe earlier this month allowed for freshman
Jasper Johnson to receive more opportunity to run the point, the injury to Williams carved out even more minutes for Johnson as well as sophomore Trent Noah.
Both had critical moments in Kentucky’s 72-63 victory over Ole Miss on Saturday, helping extend the Wildcats’ winning streak in Southeastern Conference play to five games.
Johnson fueled the offense in the first half to keep Kentucky ahead, scoring eight of his 11 points in the first 20 minutes of action. He made two very timely 3-pointers and added another in the second half, finishing the game by also dishing out two assists and as many rebounds.
Noah, who saw his most minutes since December 9th, also made a timely 3-pointer when Kentucky was struggling offensively while grabbing two rebounds and blocking a shot.
While their stats don’t jump off the page when looking at the box score, both played very well and will continue to receive opportunities in a revamped rotation.
Kentucky’s next test will come in Nashville on Tuesday night when the Wildcats visit the Vanderbilt Commodores.
Tip-off is scheduled for 9 PM ET with coverage on ESPN.
