Cats to face Georgia without Lyles

By: LARRY VAUGHT



Kentucky apparently will be without freshman forward Trey Lyles when it hosts Georgia Tuesday night.

The freshman missed Saturday’s win over Alabama with an illness that kept him from coming to the game at Rupp Arena and UK coach John Calipari said on the Southeastern Conference coaches teleconference that Lyles is unlikely to play Tuesday "and we don't know after that."

Calipari did not elaborate on the illness again Monday just as he did not after the Alabama win.

“We had to play without him (against Alabama) and I thought it was a great win without him. You're talking about a 6-10, talented, talented player, and we're playing without him now. I thought we played well without him, but we're never going to be as good without him because he's a really good player,” Calipari said.

Lyles, who missed UK’s exhibition games in the Bahamas in August recovering from a leg injury, has started seven games for UK (21-0, 8-0 SEC) and averages 7.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. He shoots 47 percent from the field.

Sophomore Dominique Hawkins, who figures to get more playing time with Lyles out, said his teammate is "not allowed to be around us right now" and he had not seen him Monday.

"I saw him yesterday but I don’t think he’s allowed to come to practice," Hawkins said."He’s a part of our team, he’s our brother, and I’m sure he wants to be on the court."

Hawkins said Calipari told the team somebody has to "step up a little bit more" to offset Lyles' absence.

"It gives me the opportunity to be able to make some plays too. Also, maybe Derek (Willis) can get his opportunity like I just did. Hopefully he does. I’m rooting for him to be able to when he enters in a game," Hawkins said.

Sophomore center Dakari Johnson said it had to be the "next man up" mentality with Lyles out much like the team did when Poythress got hurt.

'Derek Willis is going to get his chance. Everybody has to do a little bit more because Trey does a lot for this team. Everybody’s going to have to step up," Johnson said. "People get their chance and everybody has to do a little bit more. He’s a real good player and we can’t replace that, so everybody’s going to have to step up.”

Johnson said UK will miss Lyles' rebounding more than anything.

'He’s very versatile so he can play the three and stuff like that. He’s an inside-out player," Johnson said.

The sophomore center says UK practices a lot of lineups and could go various ways without Lyles.

“Sometimes going small, using a guard lineup. Sometimes going big even. So we’ve just been practicing on certain situations that we might have to use," Johnson said. “It’s a lot of pressure up front when you have those three-guard lineups. Just pressuring the ball is a big thing of what we do defensively. So it might help us.”