Quade Green, Tai Wynyard out vs Texas A&M; Jarred Vanderbilt not expected to make debut

Jarred Vanderbilt could very well be the key piece missing to this young Kentucky Wildcats team, but despite returning to practice on Monday, he is not expected to play tonight vs the Texas A&M Aggies, according to the Herald-Leader.

The Cats are also without starting point guard Quade Green tonight, who is unexpectedly out due to a back strain. Green has been UK’s starting point guard in all but one game this season. The one time he wasn’t was to allow Shai Alexander to start, which he’ll do tonight in place of Green.

In addition, UK big man Tai Wynyard is out for this game due to a lingering back injury, which caused him to miss Saturday’s loss to Tennessee.

Green, a freshman point guard from Philly, is averaging 10.4 points, 2.1 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. He’s coming off a 14-point, four-assist game against Tennessee last Saturday.

Vanderbilt, who hails from Bellaire (TX), was selected as an McDonald’s All-American in the Class of 2017. He’s a 6-9, 214 pound freshman that can do it all. He’s extremely versatile and has his way when he’s on the court. He can shoot, pass, drive, and basically do anything else at a high level.

For the first time this season, Jarred participated in a full practice with his teammates on Monday after suffering a preseason foot injury. From here, most fans assumed that he’d get to play soon, because why would Cal let him practice with the team now if he didn’t plan on playing him?

As for Wynyard, he’s been mostly relegated to the bench this season, but he has had several games in which he logged significant minutes due to foul trouble with other UK bigs. That could be an issue tonight against a very big and physical Aggies frontline.