Status update on Kentucky guard TyTy Washington against Mississippi State

It sounds like Kentucky will have to go without TyTy Washington again on Tuesday.

Washington is out for the Wildcats’ game against Mississippi State on Tuesday as he deals with an ankle injury, a source confirmed to KSR’s Jack Pilgrim. His status for this weekend’s showdown with No. 5 Kansas is also unclear.

Washington suffered the injury in the first half of Saturday’s loss to Auburn and didn’t return. He’s Kentucky’s second-leading scorer this year, averaging 13.6 points per game, and had four points in nine minutes when he went down.

After Washington’s injury, Kentucky ended up falling to Auburn 80-71 despite leading 25-16 when he left the game. The loss dropped the Wildcats to 15-4 overall and 5-2 in SEC action.

Tip-off between Kentucky and Mississippi State is coming up Tuesday night at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Oscar Tshiebwe: Not having TyTy Washington was ‘big thing’ for Kentucky

Kentucky forward Oscar Tshiebwe knows that the Wildcats were playing at a disadvantage in Saturday’s loss at Auburn, given a first-half injury that sidelined TyTy Washington for the rest of the contest.

Washington, who is averaging 14.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists in his freshman season at Kentucky — all while maintaining a 50.5 field-goal percentage — played just nine minutes in Saturday’s 80-71 loss, scoring four points on 2-of-4 shooting before the Wildcats were dealt a tough hand. Washington appeared to land awkwardly on Tshiebwe’s foot, forcing his ankle to twist uncomfortably, and needed the help of two trainers to walk off the court. He entered the locker room shortly thereafter and was declared out for the rest of the game.

“Missing TyTy was a big, big thing for us,” Tshiebwe said. “I think that really hurt us a little bit. I think we had a chance to still win the game even without him. We just gave up some easy buckets.”

Kentucky certainly had a chance to win the game without Washington; the Wildcats closed out the first half nicely, entering the locker room at halftime with a four-point lead, despite Washington not appearing in the entire latter half of the half. Tshiebwe finished with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting, adding 14 rebounds, two steals and four blocks to his total — but he was far from satisfied with Auburn’s nine-point victory.

In fact, Tshiebwe wants another shot at Auburn, which will most likely find itself in the No. 1 spot of the next AP Poll on Monday. Why?

“Because I don’t think they’re better than us,” he said. “I think we’re going to beat them. I want to play them again.”