With the Cats in comeback mode, Trent Noah was on the floor for his offense. He had made two 3s and drew a foul on another when he stepped into another. As he backpedaled to the side after the shot missed, Noah unfortunately stepped on Mark Pope and rolled his ankle.
If you have played basketball, you immediately grab your own ankle at the sight, because that has happened to you a time or two, and it is never fun.
Noah would spend a brief moment on the floor before getting up and trying to walk it
off. He would not come back in the game, but that moment is pretty emblematic of the season so far.
You have a player starting to find a little rhythm, and then something crazy happens, and that momentum is then stunted. You had Jayden Quaintance for four games, lost him to knee swelling. Jaland Lowe tried to play through a shoulder injury but had to be shut down for the season. Kam Williams broke his foot right when he was starting to make his best statement.
Kentucky has winning streaks of four and five, but they also have losing streaks of two (twice) and one three-game skid. The consistency is just not there for a team that has been up and down all year long.
SEC Tournament provides a chance to find some momentum
The Cats need a win Saturday, but even more, they need a good performance in Nashville. A couple of wins, and if they lose, they need to look good doing so. Like the Lady Cats, who just knocked off Arkansas by 30, the men can find a nice little boost playing well.
Lose Saturday badly, and then drop an early one next week, and there will be some serious conversations had about the coaching staff. Mark Pope is safe, but maybe not anyone else.
No update has been made available by UK or Mark Pope yet, but we will bring you any news when it arrives. Trent was finding some momentum, sad to see it ended by such a freak play.
Drew Holbrook has been covering the Cats for over 10 years. In his free time, he enjoys downtime with his family and Premier League soccer. You can find him on X here. Micah 7:7. #UptheAlbion
