Kentucky leads at halftime, but all eyes are on Lamont Butler

It was such a great start, Kentucky jumping out to an 8-0 lead with Big Blue Nation ready to cave in the roof of Bridgestone Arena. Then Lamont Butler re-aggravated his injured shoulder and the game flipped, Oklahoma using a 10-0 run to take a 28-25 lead before the game swung back and forth the rest of the half.

It led to a 40-38 finish at the break in favor of the Wildcats, but that won’t make anyone feel better until we get an official update on Butler. Mark Pope’s halftime interview did not inspire much confidence as the team returned to the locker room.

“They’re getting imaging on him now,” Pope said.

Gulp.

Koby Brea is doing his job for Kentucky, leading the way with 12 points on 5-7 shooting while Otega Oweh has 11 points on 2-4 shooting for the Cats. Andrew Carr has added seven points, followed by Trent Noah and Amari Williams with four points apiece and Butler with two. UK is still looking for scoring help from Collin Chandler, Brandon Garrison, Travis Perry and Ansley Almonor.

As a team, the Cats are shooting 48.4 percent from the field, 26.7 percent from three and 60.0 percent at the line. The Sooners have knocked down 46.4 percent of their shots overall, 26.7 percent from three and 72.7 at the stripe.