TyTy Washington knocked out with injury early in Kentucky’s loss to No. 2 Auburn
Freshman guard TyTy Washington was injured midway through the first half of Kentucky’s game at No. 2-ranked Auburn on Saturday afternoon.
UK announced at halftime that he had been ruled out for the remainder of the game with a left ankle injury. Auburn ultimately beat the Wildcats, 80-71, and Washington’s status moving forward is unclear.
Kentucky Coach John Calipari said immediately after the game that he did not have an update on Washington’s injury. The Wildcats will host Mississippi State in Lexington on Tuesday night before a game at No. 7 Kansas next Saturday.
Washington made a running jumper but landed awkwardly on teammate Oscar Tshiebwe’s foot when he came back down to the court. Washington immediately fell to the court. He popped back up quickly with the help of teammates, but he took a couple of minutes to get back to the sideline, limping with the assistance of teammates and a UK trainer. After being checked out in the UK bench area, he headed to the Wildcats’ locker room and did not return.
Kentucky was leading Auburn 25-16 with 8:20 remaining in the first half at the time of Washington’s injury. UK’s lead was down to four points by halftime, and the Tigers ultimately outscored Kentucky, 64-46, after Washington was knocked out of the game.
“It hurts us. He’s a playmaker. Whether he’s on the ball, off the ball — whether we run stuff for him — if he needs to go get a basket, he gets it,” Calipari said. “We don’t have those guys. Sometimes guys think they can do it, and they’re in this game, and they can’t do it. … And that’s what he does for us. He goes and gets ‘em.”
Washington is averaging 14.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game for the Wildcats, and he’s the team’s highest-rated NBA Draft pick for 2022.
Veteran guard Kellan Grady helped to lead the Cats with 17 points. He pointed to Washington’s playmaking ability as a missing variable in his absence.
“He’s able to make plays for others,” Grady said. “When you have multiple playmakers on the court, and you have finishers on the court, that makes the game easier. We saw he’s capable of having a 17-assist game. The thing about TyTy is he seemingly makes the right play almost every time. He’s patient. And he’s just a playmaker.”
Kentucky was also missing starting point guard Sahvir Wheeler down the stretch. Wheeler had to go to the UK locker room with 11:28 left in the game after running into a blindside screen set by Auburn center Walker Kessler, a play similar to the one against Louisiana State earlier this month that kept him sidelined for the following two games. He returned with 8:41 left Saturday, but the Tigers’ lead had ballooned from 51-47 to 58-48 while he was out.
Wheeler was injured again when running hard into Kessler during a trap play late in the game. He was fouled hard on that play and left for good with 1:14 left and UK trailing by eight points.
Calipari also didn’t have an update on Wheeler’s status immediately after the game Saturday.
