No. 9 Kentucky opened the second season of the Mark Pope era with a 77-51 victory over Nicholls Tuesday night in Rupp Arena. After a sluggish first half in which the ‘Cats shot 32% from the field, Kentucky scored 49 points on 61% shooting in the second half to secure the win.
Near the end of the first half however, sophomore forward Trent Noah went down after turning his ankle. He attempted to sit up and walk it off, but he eventually needed assistance to get off the floor. Following the win, Pope revealed that Noah wanted to come back into the game after suffering the injury.
“One of the assistants came up to me at the end of the first half or the beginning of the second half and said Trent’s good to go,” Pope said. “I was like ‘that’s the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.’ Trent’s the toughest dude I know. He was in a lot of pain on the floor and he doesn’t ever show that. So I went to our (head athletic trainer) Brandon Wells and was like ‘is he ready to go?’ And he was like ‘yeah, we just tested him and he just cut and ran. He said he’s feeling fine.’
“And my direct quote was like, ‘well Trent Noah‘s a liar.’ I think I yelled it probably louder than I should have. He’s just such a tough kid and I’m glad we got through the game without having to put him back in. We have to get him healthy because he’s an important part of the team.”
Pope boasts about Kentucky’s depth amid injury concerns
Prior to suffering the injury, Noah (who made his first career start) failed to make a shot (0-2) but grabbed two rebounds. His status for Friday night’s game against Valparaiso is currently unclear, as is point guard Jaland Lowe.
Lowe, who transferred from Pittsburgh this offseason, suffered a shoulder injury in the Blue-White Game on Oct. 17. He didn’t play in either exhibition game against Purdue or Georgetown, and he remained out for the season opener against Nicholls. If Lowe isn’t able to suit up against Valpo, Pope feels confident about the depth of his team.
“We have guys,” Pope continued. “We have a lot of guys that can go play and go compete. We have some depth that we didn’t have last year. Our guys were incredible last year, but we should be able to overcome some of those issues this year. We can handle them a bit better.”
While Noah and Lowe’s status for the Valparaiso game is currently unknown, Pope will certainly want his two players to be good to go for the ‘Battle of the Bluegrass’ against No. 11 Louisville on Tuesday. If Noah and Lowe are cleared for that game, the ‘Cats will only be missing forward Jayden Quaintance, who is still recovering from an ACL tear.
