By Nick Gray | UK basketball beat writer

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Andrew Harrison was not going to miss UK’s second NCAA Tournament game for any reason – especially an injured elbow.

The Cats’ freshman point guard injured his right elbow on a late foul in Friday’s second round game against Kansas State University. X-rays were negative, but UK said Harrison’s status was “day-to-day” going into Sunday with a “hyperextended” elbow.

It was not severe enough to knock him out of what could have been the Cats’ final game of the season.

“I felt like I just had to (play),” Harrison said. “And I fought through it. The elbow, once you get your adrenaline flowing, it felt fine. But it was still a little painful.”

With the ailing elbow, Harrison played his best offensive game in over a month. He scored 20 points on nine shots primarily while driving to the basket, risking further aggravation of his injury.

“Without him, obviously you know now it would have been a different game,” head coach John Calipari said. “We couldn’t have won the game.”

Harrison’s point guard counterpart, Wichita State University sophomore guard Fred VanVleet, picked up his fourth foul with less than five minutes left. Harrison attacked the rim while VanVleet, the Missouri Valley Conference player of the year, was not defending him.

“I would have liked to have been a little bit more aggressive,” VanVleet said. “They realize I have four fouls as well, so they were trying to attack me and get me out of the game.”

It was the fifth straight solid performance from the freshman point guard after Calipari’s highly-publicized “tweak” was instituted in practice in the days leading up to the SEC Tournament. Calipari admitted for the first time that at least one tweak was for Harrison, though he still was not specific.

“I did not do a great job with him early in this year,” Calipari said. “I’m the first to admit it.”

Harrison wasn’t failing to produce before Calipari’s changes (including an 18-point performance against Louisville on Dec. 28), but his numbers have spiked in the SEC and NCAA Tournaments.

“I have been through this 20 years and I’ve coached every different kind of point guard,” Calipari said. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Now, Calipari is more than confident in sending his point guard into battle in pressure-filled tournament games.

“I told him, ‘Make me look good.’”