Kentucky is far from being healthy and no one is feeling sorry for the Wildcats.
“For some reason, it doesn’t appear that anyone is crying for Kentucky,” Calipari said. “So it’s you just make do and look at your team the way it is and say, ‘How do we have to play with this team to give ourselves a chance to win?’”
Kentucky, which will play its third game in six days Tuesday against Alabama, has been hampered by nagging injuries throughout the season and especially during the past month.
Junior Derek Willis sprained his ankle in Saturday’s 79-77 overtime loss at Texas A&M, Marcus Lee missed the second half of an 80-70 win over Tennessee last Thursday and senior Alex Poythress hasn’t played in more than three weeks.
Calipari isn’t sure if Willis or Poythress will play against the Crimson Tide. Poythress, out with an undisclosed injury, practiced Sunday, Kentucky assistant coach Tony Barbee said Willis has been following medical protocal for the past two days.
“He’s been real diligent in his rehab and I know he’s going to want to get out there with his teammates (Tuesday),” he said.
Despite not having a full compliment of players, Kentucky (20-7, 10-4 Southeastern Conference) is ranked No. 16 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll and has won five of its past six games. The Wildcats are atop the conference standings — a one-game lead over Texas A&M, LSU and South Carolina — with four games remaining in the regular season.
In light of his team’s injury issues, Calipari isn’t making any excuses.
“It’s all knick-knack stuff and guys have to miss games and you just try to make do,” he said. “I’m not fazed by it. I’m not – we haven’t used it as an excuse. Next man up.”
Lee said Calipari always keeps the Wildcats aware of each individual’s importance to the team and what it means to be “next man up.”
“He’s like that all the time,” Lee said. “That’s him 100 percent of the time and that’s how he keeps every player on their toes and playing to the best of their abilities during practice and ready during games, to make sure the person either behind or close to you is always ready.”
The next man up lately has been Isaac Humphries, who has given the Wildcats a lift in the post in the absence of Poythress and others in the post. Humphries collected a career-high 12 rebounds in the loss to the Aggies last weekend.
“Isaac’s been killing it the last couple games and he has been in practice,” Lee said. “We love the energy and the strength and power he brings throughout the game and to our team. So he did phenomenal that game and we couldn’t ask any more of him.”
The outing by Humphries was overshadowed by a technical foul in the final minutes of the two-point loss at Texas A&M, a call that produced a win for the Aggies. Humphries slammed the ball on the court after grabbing a clutch defensive rebound, resulting in the controversial technical.
Barbee said it took Humphries and the Wildcats a little time to get past the loss but says the team has recovered.
“I think this team has a pretty strong resolve,” he said. “We were all crushed in that immediate 24 hours after the game, but we’ve since moved on to Alabama.”
Barbee said the Wildcats would like to have their full roster fully intact and healthy, but said the team is consistently adjusting to the changes on a weekly basis.
“We’d like to have everybody, but I think everybody’s confident that if we do miss a couple pieces, then our other guys will be ready to step in and do their jobs,” Barbee said.
Scouting Alabama
Prior to a 67-61 loss to Mississippi State last Saturday, Alabama had won five straight and is considered one of the hottest teams in the league.
The Wildcats defeated the Crimson Tide 77-61 on Jan. 9 in Tuscaloosa. Calipari said Alabama is “playing as good as anybody in the league.”
“Alabama is a good team,” Calipari said. “They’re physical, the get up in you, they have a good post presence.”
Retin Obasohan leads he Crimson Tide in scoring, with 16.9 points per game, fourth in the conference.
Game tracker: Alabama at Kentucky, 7 p.m., Tuesday. TV/Radio: ESPN; 98.1 FM, WBUL.
Keith Taylor is a columnist and senior sports writer who covers University of Kentucky athletics for KyForward.com