Kam Williams injury update: Kentucky guard's status vs. Missouri revealed

On Wednesday, Kentucky guard Kam Williams returned for the first time after suffering a fractured foot on Jan. 21. He played 17 minutes in the Wildcats’ first-round SEC Tournament win over LSU. Williams is listed as a game-time decision for Kentucky’s game against Missouri today.

In Williams’ highly-anticipated return, he tallied three points, two rebounds and an assist. He shot 1-3 from the field. All three of his shot attempts were from 3-point range.

Williams’ game status could be pivotal to Kentucky’s efforts against Missouri. When the two teams squared off on Jan. 7, Williams scored eight points, but Kentucky fell 73-68. After UK’s win over LSU on Wednesday, head coach Mark Pope discussed Williams’ comeback performance.

“We’re excited if he keeps responding well, him just getting into a flow of the game, us learning to have him on the court again. It’s been a long time since we had him in the rotation,” Pope said. “Going into the game, we talked about it a lot. We just felt like he was at a place where we could throw him out there. He hasn’t made it through a live practice yet, a whole practice.

“He has a unique ability to have a positive impact on the game, especially defensively with his length. He’s pretty assignment sound. He gave up one today. He was pretty good. Banged a three for us, which is super helpful. Also just getting some extra minutes from another space is really important for us, especially when we’re going back to back to back to back to back. It’s great to have him back.”

Despite suffering back-to-back losses to close out its regular season, Missouri enjoyed a bye in the first round of the SEC Tournament. The Tigers will be well-rested for their showdown against the Wildcats.

On the other hand, Kentucky has momentum. Though the team was far from perfect in their 87-82 win over LSU on Wednesday, they had several standout performers.

As usual, All-SEC guard Otega Oweh was excellent, recording a team-high 23 points, along with eight rebounds and three assists. Kentucky center Brandon Garrison made an enormous impact off the bench, scoring a season-high 17 points, while shooting 7-9 from the floor.

All eyes will be on Kam Williams’ status as Kentucky prepares to square off against Missouri at 12:30 p.m. ET in the SEC Tournament. The game will air live on the SEC Network. The winner will advance to the tournament’s quarterfinals.