An up
date on Jaylin Williams’ condition: the forward’s knee injury is “not season-ending.”
Jaylin Williams, an Auburn big, was sent to the locker room during the second half of his team’s Saturday night 70-59 defeat against Kentucky.
Although Williams’ injury first appeared severe enough to suggest that it would be a “season-ender,” the senior has apparently escaped any serious injuries as of Sunday morning, with the results of his MRI being negative.
Williams’s knee injury is “not as bad as initially feared,” according to Jeff Goodman of “The Field of 68,” and the senior is “expected to return before the end of the season.”
Goodman didn’t say if he meant the regular season or beyond, but Bruce Pearl’s staff should probably be patient with Williams because he is one of Auburn’s finest players.
Pearl’s remarks following the defeat last night, “He and Johni [Broome] are our two best players,” support that idea. We believe it to be something. not only a pop. He was pivotal. Tomorrow, we’ll perform an MRI and then examine it.
Even though the senior forward looks to be avoiding a serious injury, Auburn would be wise to hold him out until the SEC Tournament begins at the very least to ensure the forward is fully prepared. Before the NCAA Tournament, he will have had at least one, and probably two or three, games to get his bearings.
Forwards Dylan Cardwell, Chaney Johnson, and Chris Moore will be expected to carry a heavier load on both ends of the court in the meantime. Alternatively, Bruce Pearl could decide to play Johni Broome for closer to 35 minutes each game in the final stretch rather than the 27–30 minutes we’ve been seeing from him.
Kentucky leapfrogs South Carolina and Auburn in the SEC
Despite a historic home losing streak that ended last week with a loss to Gonzaga, the Wildcats turned things around this week.
Following their victory over Ole Miss on Tuesday, Kentucky defeated Auburn on the road by 11 points on Saturday. In order to secure the victory, they limited the Tigers to only 31% shooting, while Antonio Reaves scored 22 points. Not helping matters was the fact that Auburn lost standout player Jaylin Williams in the second half due to a right knee injury.
