NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Kentucky Wildcats bailed out of the 2025 SEC Tournament in the quarterfinals on Friday night, following a 29-point defeat to the Alabama Crimson Tide.
In that gut-wrenching, blowout loss, the Cats were forced to compete without the heartbeat of their team — for the seventh time this season — in point guard Lamont Butler.
Prior to the quarterfinals, Butler re-injured his shoulder in the first half of Kentucky’s second round tilt with the Oklahoma Sooners, causing him to miss the rest of that game and the rest of the tournament. UK still managed to beat the Sooners courtesy of last-second heroics from Otega Oweh.
It was unknown if Butler would be available to play in the NCAA Tournament, but on Sunday morning, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports confirmed that Butler will be good to go for the big dance.
This season, Butler, who has been a key part of UK’s offense and, more importantly, its defense, is averaging 11.5 points, 2.8 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.6 steals, doing a little bit of everything in all statistical categories.
The fifth-year senior is Kentucky’s most seasoned player and, on a team flooded with former mid-major talent, he has the most NCAA Tournament experience as well.
In 2023, Butler, playing for San Diego State, guided his No. 5-seeded Aztecs to the Final Four for the first time in program history before falling to the UConn Huskies in the National Championship game.
Butler lifted the Aztecs past the Florida Atlantic (FAU) Owls in that year’s Final Four game, nailing a buzzer-beater — when the score read 71-70 in favor of FAU — that would’ve ended its season had it not fallen.
During that historic March Madness run, Butler put up seven points in the first round, 12 points in the second round, four points in the Sweet 16, 18 points in the Elite Eight, nine points in the Final Four and 13 points in the National Championship. Butler also amounted 20 assists throughout the whole tournament.
Even current UK players know how important Butler’s NCAA Tournament experience is.
“Lamont is the heart and soul of our team, and so it’s a heartbreaker to lose him again,” freshman Collin Chandler said. “His nickname going around is LaMarch, just because it’s his month, as everybody knows. So, that’s pretty devastating because he is, but I think he can still have an impact in that way of talking to us every chance we get timeouts and everything.”
Chandler’s comments on Butler came after the Oklahoma win so, at the time, it was unknown if Butler would be gearing up for March Madness.
While Butler will be back, Kentucky will still be without guards Jaxson Robinson (wrist) and Kerr Kriisa (foot), no matter how far it advances in the tournament.
Now, the Cats will wait until Sunday evening to figure out their seeding, location and opponent. The Selection Show can be viewed on CBS at 6 p.m. ET.
