Livescore
Kentucky will be without star freshman guard Rob Dillingham on Saturday when the Wildcats play at Arkansas, according to Aaron Gershon with CatsPause247. Gershon reported that Dillingham was in attendance, but sat on the bench watching warmups rather than participating. Shortly after Gershon’s reporting, Kentucky coach John Calipari said on the Wildcats’ radio show that Dillingham was out with a stomach virus.
Dillingham logged 26 minutes off the bench against South Carolina earlier this week, scoring 16 points on 14 shots. A former high four-star recruit — Dillingham ranked as the No. 5 point guard and No. 21 overall player in the 2023 class — Dillingham isn’t just among the Wildcats’ best pro prospects, but one of the team’s best players.
Dillingham and Reed Sheppard give Kentucky serious pop off the bench and a microwave element once they enter the game. Dillingham has just one start this season, but is averaging 13.9 points, 3.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game while making 46.2% of his shots, 38.2% of his 3-point attempts and 77.4% of his free throws. Dillingham has scored at least 15 points in four of Kentucky’s last five games, including a career-high 23 points against Missouri.
To put those numbers into perspective, he’s averaging 24.6 points and 6.8 assists per 40 minutes.
Earlier this season, Calipari talked about his coaching style with Dillingham, a dynamic player who can make the occasional mistake.
“You’re coaching a kid that can create space and get a basket when he wants to,” Calipari said. “Do you clip his wings? You can’t. You’ve got to let him go. But I give him two a half. The third one, you’re coming out. You’re not going nuts. This isn’t the AND1 tape.”
Kentucky is looking to snap a two-game road losing streak in the SEC after the Wildcats fell to Texas A&M two Saturdays ago and South Carolina by 17 points on Tuesday. The Wildcats will take on an Arkansas team that has struggled this season, but has some big wins at home, over Duke and Texas A&M. Arkansas started the season as a ranked team after another strong transfer class and with a few key returnees, but the Razorbacks haven’t lived up to that hype, going 10-9 and just 1-5 in SEC play. Arkansas also looks like it might not be at full strength. The Razorbacks will get a key player back in guard Tramon Mark. He sat out Arkansas’ loss to Ole Miss earlier this week.
Get the latest football and basketball transfer portal news from 247Sports.
Kentucky should get back Adou Thiero this game though; he missed the Wildcats’ last seven games with back soreness, with Calipari commenting before the South Carolina game that Thiero seemed close to making it back on the court. And five-star freshman Justin Edwards is available, but limited, with a knee injury.
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