Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington could both play vs. Mississippi State

UPDATE

Well, John Calipari makes it sound like TyTy Washington and Sahvir Wheeler could both be out Tuesday, and that there’s a chance we will see Shaedon Sharpe suit up soon...

As the Kentucky Wildcats prepare to host Mississippi State, the injury report will once again be playing a large role.

For the Bulldogs, star forward Tolu Smith is likely out due to a knee injury. However, he’s already missed 10 games due to injury, so the Bulldogs are plenty used to not having him.

The same cannot be said for Kentucky with TyTy Washington or Sahvir Wheeler, both of whom are iffy to play Tuesday. Washington has yet to miss a game this season while becoming one of the best freshmen in America. When he went down early in the loss at newly-ranked No. 1 Auburn, Kentucky watched a double-digit lead turn into a nine-point loss.

As for Wheeler, he’s missed two games this season due to a neck injury suffered on a hard screen in the loss at LSU. That happened again twice at Auburn, though neither of those hits appeared to be as bad as the one in Baton Rouge.

On Sunday, Adam Zagoria reported that Washington was doing fine and is considered day-to-day.

Today, assistant coach Orlando Antigua met with the media to preview Kentucky vs. Mississippi State. He also gave some brief injury updates, though the most notable one regarding Washington and Wheeler came from The Athletic’s Kyle Tucker, as there’s a chance both are able to suit up Tuesday Night.

Considering how much pain Washington was in as he had to be helped off the court, getting him back this soon would be a huge win for the Wildcats.

Heck, while beating the top-ranked team in their own building would have been awesome, not losing Wheeler for weeks, if not months, is a bigger win for these Cats, who clearly have championship potential when everyone is healthy.

The fact that there’s even a chance Washington plays Tuesday bodes well for him playing this Saturday vs. the No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence. Kentucky should be able to win at home Tuesday without Washington, but that isn’t happening at Kansas.

As for Wheeler, Antigua admitted Kentucky has to do a lot better at calling out screens so the 5-foot-9 Wheeler stops getting hammered on them. Kentucky will certainly need to have a better strategy come Saturday playing in one of the best home atmospheres in college athletics.

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