John Calipari says Reid Travis will play vs. Alabama

The Kentucky Wildcats are about to get Reid Travis back from his injury.

Travis has missed the last week with a sprained right knee he sustained in a road win at Missouri. The Cats did go 4-1 without him but clearly weren’t the same team without the senior forward.

The Wildcats open SEC Tournament play Friday night against the Alabama Crimson Tide. The first time these two met, it was a thriller in Tuscaloosa that saw the home team come away with a 77-75 win.

Travis actually kept Kentucky afloat early with 12 points, but he struggled down the stretch and made several mistakes that proved costly. Even so, Kentucky would love nothing more than to have their senior lead back on the court Friday.

On Thursday, head coach John Calipari met with the media to preview Friday’s game. Calipai also gave an update on Travis, who is expected to make a return vs. Alabama.

Calipari said earlier this week that Travis could play in Nashville, but only in 4-5 minute spurts. However, it sounds like Calipari may be backing off that a bit, which is ideal, especially for Saturday.

Kentucky can beat Alabama with Travis playing limited minutes, but a semifinal matchup with Tennessee would likely come next. That’s a game you need Travis playing 20+ for the Wildcats to win and keep hold of a 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Earlier in the day, Kentucky gave us a tease that Travis was working with the team in Nashville. Now, Kentucky has posted a video that shows Travis going through practice:

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