John Calipari admits playing TyTy Washington at Tennessee was a mistake

In last night's 76-63 loss to the Tennessee Volunteers, TyTy Washington shocked most of Big Blue Nation by returning to the starting lineup days after what many feared to be a major injury.

Even though Washington was named in the starting lineup, you could tell from the jump that he was not at 100%.

After scoring four points and recording three assists, Washington would come out of the game early in the second half after getting up slowly from an offensive possession. He finished the game with 13 minutes played.

John Calipari, in his postgame press conference, admitted that he should have held his star freshman out on Tuesday night’s game.

“If I had it to do over, I would not have played TyTy. I shouldn’t have played him,” Calipari said afterwards. “I asked him twice, ‘Why don’t you step back?’ He said, ‘I can do this.’ I should have gone with my gut.”

Washington has been impressive when fully healthy this season on both ends of the floor. Currently, he is averaging 12.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 4.1 assists, and 1.2 steals per game.

A timeframe for a return has not been set for Washington, but one could imagine he may be out for Saturday’s matchup against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

As this Kentucky Wildcats team starts its postseason run in the coming weeks, Washington will play a huge part if this team does hope to reach the final weekend of the NCAA Tournament.