Ashton Hagans says his "butt bone" is okay following injury scare

Kentucky freshman point guard Ashton Hagans had yet another impressive outing, finishing with 15 points on 7-9 shooting, four rebounds, four assists, and three steals in 33 minutes. With just 3:12 remaining in the game, however, the defensive standout went up for a floater (he sank it) and fell hard to the floor. He instantly grabbed at his back, wincing in significant pain, staying down for a while and then eventually getting helped off the floor. He stayed on the bench for a few possessions, and then at the 2:22 mark, hopped up and decided to give it another go. Hagans stayed in for the remainder of the game and seemed to look comfortable, and when asked about the injury during the postgame media sessions, the Wildcat freshman gave a positive update on the situation. "It's feeling better, I just came down on his foot," he said. "Just gotta ice it when I get done with this. But yeah, I'm feeling better, just glad we got the win." And what was the official medical diagnosis of the injury, specifically? "It was just my butt bone," he said with a laugh. Hagans said the injury scared him at first, but the second he got up and worked his way to the sideline he could already sense some relief. "At first it did (scare me), it was hurting pretty bad," he said. "But when I got up and started walking off it was feeling better. Kentucky head coach John Calipari was also asked about Hagans' injury after the game and how he handled the situation. When he knew it wasn't serious, he told his freshman point guard, who has now scored in double figures in four consecutive games and finished with three or more steals in five, he needed to jump back in the game. "I think he’s fine," he said. "He went back in the game. He’s a tough kid. I gave him a minute. I said, “You’ve got one minute and you’re going back. He said, “All right.”' When Hagans first went down, it looked to be serious and arguably Kentucky's most valuable player might have had to miss time. Now, it's likely he won't miss another minute of game action. No matter how ugly the game might have been, that's a massive victory for the Wildcats. [mobile_ad]