From Nick Richards looking like a first-round draft pick to Ashton Hagans scaring all of the Big Blue Nation, here are Wildcat Blue Nation’s biggest takeaways from the Kentucky’s 71-59 victory over Missouri:
Takeaway #1: Injury Bug strikes again
As Ashton Hagans, who was assisted almost entirely by Head Athletic Trainer Geoffrey Stanton, limped gingerly to the locker room with little under a minute left in the second half, Rupp Arena and all of the Big Blue Nation collectively held their breath.
In that moment, the rest of the game did not matter – one that Kentucky had been leading by double-digits for a majority of the second half -, the emergence of Nick Richards did not matter, and Hagans’ unusually poor performance certainly did not matter.
As we held our breath, the consensus surely wasn’t a good one. Twitter MD’s suggested an Achilles injury, and if it wasn’t torn, it was surely serious.
However – thank the Lord – social media’s best doctors were wrong. John Calipari, fill-in Hermes, delivered the good news.
"“I had one fear,” Calipari revealed. “When I walked off the court, they had me on TV and I was trying to get off the TV because I wanted to go back and make sure. But when they told me it wasn’t (an Achilles injury), OK, we can deal with whatever else it is.” “Yeah, (an Achilles) was my fear. Forget about our team. For him, his game and how he plays, it’s not his Achilles. He said it’s a low ankle sprain. You know high ankle sprains take like two weeks. A low ankle sprain takes 18 hours. So he’ll be fine.”"
Despite being overly optimistic (or sarcastic) in response to his star point guard’s injury, Hagans is listed as day-to-day and will take longer than 18 hours to recover. Because of this, Hagans will likely be absent from Tuesday’s road matchup against Georgia.
Why is this important?
For starters, Georgia just defeated #9 Memphis on the road and is led by presumed top-five NBA Draft prospect and former Calipari recruit, Anthony Edwards. Secondly, Hagans, undoubtedly Kentucky’s best on-ball defender, would be tasked with stopping the red-hot freshman phenom. Finally, if it counts for anything, this would be a homecoming for Hagans. The Cartersville, Ga native had a flock of family attend last year’s game.
But most importantly, Hagans’ injury scare made his teammates realize how important he is to Kentucky’s success:
"Emerging star Nick Richards on Hagans: “He’s the guy who finds everybody open shots. He’s the guy everybody looks to for energy. He’s always trying to build us up. He would be the guy in the huddle who says, ‘Coach, let’s run some plays for this guy so he can get going.’ ” Also, grad-transfer Nate Sestina on his point guard: “Ashton is our guy. If it would’ve been (an Achilles), that would’ve been pretty devastating. In our locker room after the game, there was about 50 pounds lifted off everyone’s shoulders when they found out it was an ankle. If he doesn’t play the way he does then we don’t play the way we’re supposed to… We fully understand what he does for us.” Finally, fellow sophomore guard Immanuel Quickley: “Seeing him limping, my heart kind of dropped, just knowing how important he is to our team, what he brings — his leadership, his energy, his defensive toughness. His toughness alone, really. Teams fear that a little bit. You never want to lose a guy like that. That’s basically the heart and soul of our team. He’s everything we’re about.”"
Once again, levity reigns supreme – we are going to miss you when you’re gone, Ashton Hagans. But he’s not leaving just yet. As for Tuesday, look for Immanuel Quickley to see extended minutes face guarding Edwards as he did against Nwora in the Louisville win.
In other news:
- Johnny Juzang (illness) will not make the trip to Athens, leaving Kentucky with just seven eligible scholarship players.
Per Kyle Tucker of The Athletic: “Calipari says Juzang is quarantined in the lodge. ‘He has a virus. Ellen made him vegan cookies last night and Cal “brought them over and slid them under the door.'”
- Immanuel Quickley will get an X-Ray on his non-shooting hand after a scary moment during the Mizzou game