When Trent Noah went down with an ankle injury in the first half, admit it: you thought this Kentucky team might be cursed. It was the third injury since the preseason began. Thankfully, it sounds like Noah will be fine; in fact, he wanted to play in the second half, but Mark Pope said no.
“One of the assistants came up to me at the end of the first half or the beginning of the second half and said, ‘Trent’s good to go,’” Pope said in his postgame press conference. “I said, ‘That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.’ Trent’s the toughest dude I know. He was in a lot of pain on the floor, and he doesn’t ever show that.”
Noah rolled the ankle going after a loose ball under the basket. As Pope said, he was on the floor for a least a minute, writhing in pain. With the help of trainers, he was able to get up and limp to the locker room. When Kentucky came out before the second half, Noah ran along the sidelines to see if he could give it a go. When Wells told Pope that Noah wanted to play, Pope put his foot down.
“So I went to Brandon Wells, walked down the sideline to Brandon Wells, and I’m like, ‘Brandon, is he ready to go?’ And he’s like, ‘Yeah, we just tested him. He cut, he ran, he said he’s feeling fine.’ And my direct quote was like, ‘Well, Trent Noah is a liar.’ I think I yelled it probably louder than I should have.”
Noah played just nine minutes before the injury, going 0-2 from the floor and grabbing two rebounds and a steal. Thankfully, Kentucky found a groove in the second half and cruised to the 77-51 win, which made Pope feel even better about his decision to keep Noah on the bench.
“He’s tough as nails, right?” Pope told Tom Leach. “There was zero chance I was putting him back in this game. We need him to get healthy and feel better. And I think Trent — his arm could fall if he’d be like, ‘Coach, I’m good. I’m good,’ which I love. I wish everybody were built the way Trent Noah is built. It’s so spectacular, but I was not buying that for one second.”
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Pope says Jaland Lowe may play Friday
Denzel Aberdeen was a game-time decision tonight due to a minor leg injury, but played 20 minutes and helped guide the Cats to the victory. What about Jaland Lowe? Lowe was ruled out as he works his way back from the shoulder injury he suffered in the Blue-White Game, but when Tom Leach asked, Pope said Lowe might play on Friday vs. Valparaiso.
“I think there’s a chance we might have a J. Lowe sighting Friday. We’ll see. I’m not guaranteeing. It’s gonna depend on the next couple of days of practice.”
Pope said that Lowe really wanted to play tonight, but, ever cautious after last year’s injury issues, Pope took the cautious route. With the rivalry game vs. Louisville just one week away, Pope may let Lowe knock off the rust on Friday night at Rupp.
“If he has any say in it. You know, he was pretty upset with me that we didn’t throw him in the deal today, so I’m hopeful we’ll have a J. Lowe sighting. We’ll see how it goes the next couple of days.”
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