Amari Williams injury update: What did Mark Pope say about Kentucky center's playing status?
Kentucky center Amari Williams is day-to-day after suffering a leg injury in the Wildcats' 98-67 win over Minnesota State Mankato, coach Mark Pope said on Thursday.
Pope provided an update on the health status of the Drexel transfer, who was subbed out in the opening minutes after tweaking his leg.
"Yeah, so, imaging was really good, really positive. He’s day-to-day right now," Pope said (per On3).
"He won’t do anything – you know, just do free throws today. We’re hopeful that he’ll be back soon but we’ll kind of proceed with all the caution and urgency that we possibly can."
Williams had already grabbed two rebounds before he sustained the injury. He was tested in the locker room and was ruled out for the rest of the game. Pope hopes the 7-foot slotman will be available for Kentucky's season opener against Wright State on Monday.
Brandon Garrison was inserted into the game in place of Williams and played well, scoring 12 points on 6 of 9 shooting, four rebounds, one assist and one block in 19 minutes.
Williams had an all-around game in the Wildcats' previous tuneup against Kentucky Wesleyan. He finished with 12 points, five rebounds, six assists and one block in 20 minutes.
Kentucky coach Mark Pope wants the team to be aggressive from tip-off
If there is one thing that first-year Kentucky coach Mark Pope would like his team to keep up this season, it is that it can put up big scoring runs.
The Wildcats had a slow start against Minnesota State Mankato in their second and final exhibition game. The coach noted his team couldn't get their game going in the first 14 minutes until they scored 17 straight points in three minutes to pad the lead to 20.
Pope wanted Kentucky to be aggressive from the start and exude resilience in every game.
"We have a team that can go fix things. We're a veteran team, we see the game, we understand the game, we can go fix things," the Wildcats coach said. "There's going to be a two- or three-minute run that's kind of a death knell where our guys, where we get it done. I like those two features of this team."
Pope hopes Kentucky will orchestrate deep scoring runs similar to its offensive surge against Minnesota State in its regular-season opener against Wright State on Monday.
Tipoff is set at 7 p.m. EDT at the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky.
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