Kentucky’s PJ Washington out for Thursday’s game, has hard cast on sprained foot

By Jesse Reed

·Updated: March 21, 2019

The Kentucky Wildcats will open the 2019 NCAA Tournament without star forward PJ Washington, who will be held out with a sprained foot.

The good news is that, per head coach John Calipari, specialists confirmed that there is no fracture. Though, he will be sporting a hard cast “for precautionary reasons.”

The specialists confirmed our original diagnosis that @PJWashington has a sprained foot and there is no fracture. Once we determined that PJ was not going to play today, they put him in a hard cast for precautionary reasons. He is out for today’s game.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) March 21, 2019

Washington initially injured his foot in the Tennessee game.

The Wildcats (No. 2) shouldn’t need Washington to beat Abilene Christian (No. 15).

Still, losing one of your best players right at the start of the tourney isn’t ideal. On the season, Washington averaged 14.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.2 blocks per game.