John Calipari gives injury update on three key Kentucky players vs Kansas

According to the latest injury update from coach John Calipari, the Kentucky Wildcats have three players in doubt for Saturday against Kansas. TyTy Washington,  Daimion Collins, and Jacob Toppin all missed practice Thursday, Kentucky Sports Radio reported.

Calipari did not rule out any player, but said he will not play them if they aren’t at full strength.

“If TyTy is not 100%, this isn’t a game you play a guy at 80%; it’s just not,” the coach said. “Same with Jacob.”

Saturday’s game between the Wildcats and Jayhawks is highly anticipated as perhaps the best college basketball contest of the weekend. Both schools enter ranked inside the top 15 and could use a big win to pad their tournament resume.

But the matchup could lose some luster if Kentucky is without its stars.

Washington went down last Saturday against Auburn with an ankle injury. Kentucky held a nine-point advantage when the point guard exited in the first half, but ended up losing 80-71. The true freshman is second on the team in both scoring (13.6 ppg) and assists (4.4 apg).

Toppin injured his ankle the following game against Mississippi State, but eventually returned to the game. He is averaging 5.8 points and 3.3 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per game off the bench.

Calipari did not go into specifics on the nature of Collins’ injury.

If any of the aforementioned Wildcats were to miss Saturday, it would certainly make a road contest in Allen Fieldhouse that much more intimidating. In particular, Kentucky will hope that Washington, the only starter of the three injured, is able to go.

The Wildcats managed to pull out an overtime victory against Mississippi State on Tuesday without Washington. Davion Mintz stepped into the starting lineup in his place, finishing with four points and four assists.

Kentucky currently sits at 16-4 and 6-2 in SEC play this season. The Wildcats missed the NCAA Tournament last year for just the second time in Calipari’s 13 years with the program. They are currently a four seed according to the latest edition of ESPN expert Joe Lunardi’s bracketology predictions.

Tip off between the Jayhawks and Wildcats is set for 6 p.m. ET Saturday. Keep checking On3 for a new injury update before Kentucky takes the court.