As the final buzzer sounded in Kentucky men’s basketball’s 76-57 NCAA Tournament victory over Troy, a surprising truth came to light.
Kentucky’s most impactful player in what ended up being a 19-point win scored zero points.
Starting point guard Lamont Butler finished the contest 0-5 from the field (0-3 from beyond the arch) after 25 minutes on the court, pulling down just two rebounds and logging three assists.
Despite this, he finished with the highest +/- (a stat that tracks how well the team performed with any given player on the court) on the squad with a +22. Otega Oweh, who led the Cats with 20 points, finished at +20.
This is because what Butler best brings to the table isn’t as easily identifiable on a stats sheet.
“He’s a great leader,” freshman Trent Noah said of Butler during the SEC Tournament. “He’s super talented. Having our guy Lamont back will help for sure.”
A strong defender and veteran presence on the team, both Head Coach Mark Pope and Butler’s teammates have come to rely on the former San Diego State Aztec. His presence on the floor, even when he himself is unable to contribute to the scoring, is vital.
“Maybe a little bit,” Butler said when asked if he believes his presence gives his team confidence. “I know I can impact the game in a winning way, so I just go out there and try to play hard and I think everybody else followed my lead.”
Butler himself admitted to being “frustrated” at his inability to get the ball into the net, but emphasized that a bad night is no excuse for sloppy or lazy play, especially in the NCAA Tournament.
“Just continue to play, be myself. I put a lot of work in in the gym and I’m dealing with injury, but I gotta just keep going, I play good defense, I get my teammates involved,” he said. “Just continue to find a way to impact the game without scoring.”
Butler’s ability to lead the team is extremely notable, especially considering even finishing the basketball game was a major win for the team.
“LaMarch,” as he is referred to as by his teammates, has missed a handful of games for Kentucky this season with a lingering shoulder injury that he suffered early in SEC play.
Going down against Tennessee in Rupp Arena after already coming back from injury, Butler returned against Oklahoma in the regular season. Disaster struck, however, when he went down again in the SEC Tournament.
Once again facing off against the Sooners, Butler went down and required imaging, which took him out for the remainder of the tournament. Kentucky would go on to nearly blow the game and, even after a game-winning shot by Oweh, the energy remained lower in the Kentucky locker room as the possibility of a season-ending injury hung over the team like a dark cloud.
“That was a heartbreaker,” freshman Collin Chandler said after the game in Nashville. “Lamont is the heart and soul of our team, so it’s a heartbreaker to lose him again. We’ve played some games without Lamont, so we’re just all trying to piece together a bit to fill that gap.”
Chandler would also emphasize the very aspect of Butler’s character on display against Troy weeks before it was actually visible to the Kentucky faithful.
“We’ll still need him every bit of the way,” he said. “He can still have an impact in talking to us every chance we get in timeouts. He’s still going to be helpful, Lamont is a leader on this team.”
While UK would be run off the court by Alabama to end its SEC Tournament hopes, Butler’s imaging would come back positive and, despite Pope saying his arm is “hanging on by a thread,” he was able to return for the NCAA Tournament.
There, in Milwaukee, Butler would have his aforementioned performance, leading his team and finishing the game without any further setback.
He was filmed leaving the court in ecstasy, happily saying, “I made it through.”
“I felt really good,” Butler said. “It was definitely special, especially getting coach’s first tournament win, getting Kentucky a win. We’re excited to get more wins. We went out there (and) fought like warriors.”
As the Cats now turn to prepare for a much larger contest against the Illinois Fighting Illini in the second round of the big dance, Butler will be as important as ever.
It would be easy to suggest, as beaten down as he is, that it may be difficult for one player to rise to that occasion but, according to Pope, that isn’t an issue for Butler.
“I don’t know if I’ve coached a player that is more determined… it will kill him to let down his guys. Like, it’ll kill him. It’ll bring him to tears, like to ugly tears, even the thought of letting down his guys,” Pope said. “Even bringing up Lamont’s name, like fighting to play right now, I have an emotional reaction. I feel it physically. We’ve said this since the day we started recruiting him, he’s just a winner, a winner. I actually think he’s going to be amazing tomorrow.”
Butler will have a chance to prove his coach right in a quick turnaround as the Cats, like every team in the country, face a win-or-go-home contest against a very strong opponent.
Kentucky will tip off against the Fighting Illini at 5:15 p.m. ET on Sunday, March 23, from Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee. The contest will air live on CBS.
