Arkansas basketball’s Karter Knox, D.J. Wagner out vs Mississippi State

Arkansas basketball will be without two key pieces of its eight-man rotation against Mississippi State.

Sophomore Karter Knox and junior D.J. Wagner were both listed as “out” on the final SEC Availability Report prior to the conference clash on Saturday, Feb. 7. The two Hogs were surprisingly listed as doubtful on the initial report released Friday night.

According to an Arkansas spokesperson, Knox has a knee injury and Wagner is dealing with an ankle injury.

The No. 21 Razorbacks (16-6, 6-3 SEC) are searching for a bounce-back victory over the Bulldogs (11-11, 3-6). Arkansas had an open week after falling to Kentucky at home on Saturday, Jan. 31.

Knox has started 18 of the Hogs’ 22 games this season. He is averaging 8.4 points and 4.7 rebounds, and John Calipari was blunt in his assessment of Knox after Arkansas’ loss to Kentucky.

“I met with Karter after because I told him, ‘we’re not winning without you playing (well),’” Calipari said.

Calipari also indicated he planned to play more minutes with Knox and Billy Richmond III sharing the floor, but that rotation development will have to wait. Richmond is the most likely candidate to replace Knox in the starting lineup.

Wagner started the first 18 games of the season, but he’s come off the bench in the last four. He’s averaging 7.4 points and 2.5 assists per game.

With both players out, Calipari will either utilize a six-man rotation or give true freshman Isaiah Sealy playing time. Sealy has logged 10 total minutes in the SEC this season.

Jackson Fuller covers Arkansas football, basketball and baseball for the Southwest Times Record, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at jfuller@usatodayco.com or follow him @jacksonfuller16 on X, formerly known as Twitter.