John Calipari says Tre Mitchell is getting close to a return

Fifth-year forward Tre Mitchell was (once again) watching from the sidelines on Tuesday night. It was his fourth straight game sitting on the bench with a shoulder injury, which he suffered on Feb. 13 against Ole Miss.

But according to Kentucky head coach John Calipari, Mitchell is getting close to finding his way back onto the floor. After the Wildcats’ road 91-89 win over Mississippi State, Calipari was asked if Mitchell is nearing a return.

“I think so,” Calipari said. “He’ll practice a couple of days and let’s see where he is.”

Is that an actual update? Kinda sorta. It’s the most we’re going to get out of Calipari, but it’s at least encouraging news. Practicing is always the first major step to making a return with Calipari. If Mitchell practices on Thursday and Friday this week, expect him to suit up on Saturday against Arkansas inside Rupp Arena.

Kentucky is 4-2 this season without Mitchell (he also sat out two additional games due to a lingering back injury) and has won two very tough games in back-to-back outings, but having a healthy Mitchell back in the rotation would go a long way for UK come March.

Mitchell is Kentucky’s fourth-leading scorer at 12 points per game on 49.7 percent overall shooting. He also contributes 7.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.1 blocks in a team-high 33.1 minutes per contest.

DJ Wagner still rounding back into form

Another Wildcat who has been dealing with injuries for a good chunk of the season is freshman DJ Wagner. The 6-foot-3 point guard has missed four games this season with a nagging ankle injury. Three of them came in late January/early February.

And while Wagner has played the last six games for UK, he’s still not to where he was before initially going down with the injury all the way back in late November against Miami (FL). Since coming back, Wagner is averaging just 4.8 points and 2.7 assists in 21 minutes per game. In the 18 games before then? 12 points and 3.7 assists in 28 minutes per outing.

That being said, Wagner had his best outing in weeks on Tuesday night against Mississippi State. He finished with 10 points and four assists in 28 minutes — his most in-game action since Jan. 27. Wagner also went 2-4 from deep after missing 15 straight three-pointers coming into the game.

He’s slowly getting back to where he was in the fall.

“I said to the team, isn’t it nice to have DJ back?” Calipari said during his postgame radio segment with Tom Leach. “Now I’m gonna say this for everybody. He was shooting 40 percent from 3 before he had to sit down with the injury. He was out two and a half weeks without touching the ball. Takes time to get your timing back and get your confidence back and get your — the movement and the chemistry with the other guys. It takes time.”