Kentucky Coach John Calipari Does Not Want To Think About Games Without TyTy Washington

There was the loss at No. 2 Auburn on Saturday, but Kentucky coach John Calipari feels more stung by the impact of possibly not having point guard TyTy Washington in the near future.

Washington left the game in the first half with a left ankle injury shortly after his jumper put the No. 12 Wildcats up 25-16 with 8:24 to go. He landed awkwardly on a teammate’s foot. Without him, Auburn caught up to 33-29 at the half and took the game over in the second half for an 80-71 win in front of a 9,121 at a sold-out Auburn Arena.

“It hurts us,” Calipari said. “He’s a playmaker. If he needs to go get a basket, he can do it. We don’t have those guys.”

Washington, a 6-foot-3, five-star freshman who was the No. 3 point guard in the nation by Rivals.com out of Compass Prep in Phoenix, is averaging 13.6 points, 4.3 assists and 3.9 rebounds a game with 23 steals.

“Don’t know,” Calipari said when asked about Washington’s status after the game. “I don’t know. I’m not going to deal with it because I don’t know. I’m not going into hypotheticals.”

The Wildcats (15-4, 5-2 SEC) host Mississippi State (13-5, 4-2 SEC) at 9 p.m. eastern Tuesday on ESPN before traveling to No. 7 Kansas on Saturday (6 p.m., ESPN) as part of the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

Kentucky does have playmaker guard Shahvir Wheeler, a 5-9 junior who is averaging 10.8 points a game with 6.9 assists and 23 steals.

Auburn (18-1, 7-0 SEC) could be No. 1 in the nation in the Associated Press poll Monday with No. 1 Gonzaga (15-2, 4-0 West Coast Conference) idle on Saturday. Auburn plays at Missouri (8-10, 2-4 SEC) at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday on the SEC Network.

Speaking of polls, No. 13 LSU (15-4, 3-4) will likely descend dramatically after its third straight loss – 64-50 at No. 24 Tennessee (14-5, 4-3). The Tigers dropped into eighth place in the league. Tennessee held LSU to its lowest point total under coach Will Wade, who has been coach since the 2017-18 season.

Tennessee will be in the other ranked pairing in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge as it plays at No. 23 Texas at 8 p.m. on ESPN.

In other games Saturday, Florida defeated Vanderbilt, 61-42, South Carolina beat Georgia, 83-66, Mississippi State beat Ole Miss, 78-60, Alabama defeated Missouri, 86-76, and Arkansas beat Texas A&M, 76-73.

This week’s schedule starts early with a COVID-19 makeup contest on Monday between Florida (11-6, 2-3) and Ole Miss (9-9, 1-5) at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network in a game originally scheduled for Dec. 29. Florida and Ole Miss will each play three games in six days.

The rest of the week’s schedule follows leading into Saturday:

TUESDAY’S GAMES (All times eastern)

Alabama (13-6, 4-3) at Georgia (5-14, 0-6), 6:30 p.m., SEC Network

No. 2 Auburn (18-1, 7-0) at Missouri (8-10, 2-4), 8:30 p.m., SEC Network

Mississippi State (13-5, 4-2) at No. 12 Kentucky (15-4, 5-2), 9 p.m. ESPN

WEDNESDAY’S GAMES

Florida (11-6, 2-3) at No. 24 Tennessee (13-5, 4-3), 6 p.m., ESPN2

Vanderbilt (10-7, 2-3) at South Carolina (11-7, 2-4), 7 p.m., ESPNU

Arkansas (14-5, 4-3) at Ole Miss (9-9, 1-5), 7 p.m., SEC Network

Texas A&M (15-4, 4-2) at No. 13 LSU (15-4, 3-4), 9 p.m., SEC Network