What to know about TyTy Washington's injury, Kentucky basketball win over Florida

LEXINGTON - Kentucky basketball extended its winning streak to six games with a 78-57 victory over Florida, but some of the excitement of the day was dampened by an injury to freshman guard TyTy Washington.

Junior forward Oscar Tshiebwe recorded his 19th double-double in 25 games (27 points and 19 rebounds) to lead Kentucky. He was joined in double figures by super senior guards Kellan Grady (15) and Davion Mintz (11) and Washington (10).

Kentucky jumped out to a 20-6 lead less than six minutes into the game. Florida then used a 15-2 run to pull within one, but Kentucky steadied the ship to take a 33-28 lead into halftime. The Wildcats opened the second half on a 13-2 run to end any drama.

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The win moved Kentucky to 21-4 on the season and 10-2 in SEC play. Here is what you need to know about the performance.

TyTy Washington injury mars win

Kentucky played the game without junior forward Jacob Toppin, who injured his left ankle in the first half of Kentucky's Tuesday win at South Carolina. The injury issue compounded when Washington was sidelined by his own ankle injury when Florida guard Brandon McKissic undercut his legs and landed on top of him while diving for a loose ball with 12:50 left in the game.

Washington rolled on the court in obvious pain for a few seconds before jumping up and limping directly to the UK locker room. He was unable to put much weight on his left leg as he left the court.

With Toppin out, Calipari experimented with freshman Bryce Hopkins at the four in the first half, but Hopkins did not record any statistics in two minutes of action. Kentucky did find some success with sophomore forward Lance Ware, the normal backup center, playing alongside Tshiebwe when starting forward Keion Brooks needed a breather.

If Washington is out for any extended time, questions about the status of freshman guard Shaedon Sharpe will surely arise again. UK coach John Calipari announced this week Sharpe, the former No. 1-ranked prospect in the class of 2022 who graduated early to enrolled at UK in January, would not play this season, but the need for another scoring guard increases if Washington misses time.

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For now, the worst-case scenario appears to have been avoided though.

In his appearance on the UK postgame radio show, Mintz said he thinks "TyTy should be all right." Calipari said he was not sure yet of Washington's status for Tuesday's game at Tennessee but he was likely "day to day" with a left lower leg injury.

An x-ray of Washington's leg revealed nothing alarming, Calipari said, but the training staff had not yet ruled out any soft tissue injuries.

"He could still be out a week or two, who knows?" Calipari said. "Could be a muscle, it could be something that separated, because he got hit hard."

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Tensions rise after injury

While there did not appear to be anything intentional on McKissic's part in the play where Washington was injured, the Rupp Arena crowd booed him loudly every time he touched the ball for the remainder of the game.

Emotions came close to boiling over when Florida's Myreon Jones fell the floor after Ware became tangled with his arm while attempting to grab the ball. Ware, who initially stared at Jones on the ground for a couple of seconds after being called for the foul, had begun to walk away when Florid guard Phlandrous Fleming ran to the scene to deliver an unnecessary shove in the back. The exchange happened directly in front of Kentucky's bench, and assistant Orlando Antigua pulled Ware aware from the area as his teammates stood in protest.

After a lengthy review, officials called no technical foul on Fleming, leading to more boos from the crowd.

"The other players at Florida came right up to me and said, 'Coach, we're all good,'" Calipari said. "I said, 'Thank you, we are, too.' Our team huddled and said, we're not buying into that. We're not. That's not who we are. We're worried about winning the game.

"So probably it was good that it happened. Not that (Washington) got hurt but good that that kind of scrum and then our response to it. Like Lance responded great. He just laughed."

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Sahvir Wheeler ends shooting slump

After three consecutive games without converting a field goal, junior point guard Sahvir Wheeler had to feel relieved when his first shot of the afternoon, a 3-pointer just more than three minutes into the game, fell.

The make ended a streak of 19 consecutive missed shots for Wheeler, dating back to the second half of the Jan. 29 win at Kansas.

"He has a big an impact on the game as anybody in it, even when he doesn’t make a shot," Calipari said of Wheeler Friday. "Defensively, leading us, creating, breaking down people. He worries about making shots.

"...But it doesn’t matter to our team. 'When he it doesn’t matter to you, Sahvir, you’re going to make more shots."

Wheeler was limited to just seven first half minutes due to foul trouble but still led Kentucky in plus/minus at (+30) for the game. He finished the day with nine points, six rebounds and zero turnovers.

"I wouldn’t be here at Kentucky if I didn’t make some baskets, if I didn’t impact the game, I couldn’t score the ball," Wheeler said. "They don’t just hand out the jerseys here. I just trusted my process, knowing it’s going to come back to me. You don’t live at the top of the mountain forever. Sometimes you’ve got to come back, you got to come down. Then your next achievement is climbing another mountain. That’s what happened today where I finally got one to drop.

"When I made it, I was pretty happy though just to see one go in."

Email Jon Hale at jahale@courier-journal.com; Follow him on Twitter at @JonHale_CJ.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: TyTy Washington injury: UK basketball freshman hurt in Florida win