Kentucky was shorthand in a loss of 75-70 to No. 18 Missouri.
The Wildcats were without Terrence Clarke, Jacob Toppin and assistant coach Joel Justus in Columbia. It eventually forced John Calipari to play Cam’Ron Fletcher at one point, his first minutes of 2021. The depth was tightened even further after Olivier Sarr made a mistake with more than five minutes to go.
After the game, Coach Cal said the three had not joined the rest of the team for the road trip, so Justus could work out the other two players, most notably the bumpy Clarke who has traveled with the team to all of their previous road games.
“Joel stayed for that reason and I want to see the boy (Clarke) practice tomorrow and Friday to see if there is a chance he can play against Tennessee. He didn’t have to be here. If you watch a guy in basketball, what, did we need a cheerleader? He didn’t have to be here. He has to get ready to try to play that game on Saturday. If he can’t practice without limping on Thursday and Friday, he won’t play on Saturday and we’ll just keep him out to see where this thing goes. It gets to a point where you’re off for five, six weeks means you just aren’t able to. The game is too much for you to play. But that’s why we left him at home. “
First, do we believe that’s why they stayed home? And what exactly does the last part of his answer entail? If Clarke can’t play Saturday, won’t he play again? Calipari’s response leaves the listener with more questions than answers.
UPDATE (10:04 pm)
Shortly after hitting the “publish” button, John Calipari offered this to the UK Sports Network listening audience. Make it what you want.
Calipari on UK Radio Network post game offers more about Terrence Clarke: if you limp after 5 weeks and the MRIs and scans show that nothing is wrong, you can’t play.
– Jeff Drummond (@JDrumUK) February 4, 2021
The whole quote:
‘Still limping after five weeks? And there’s nothing to worry about, there’s no MRI – there’s nothing there. But players know their pain and their pain threshold, so if he limps, I’m not going to play him. ”