Kentucky Wildcats guard Lamont Butler is expected to return for the NCAA Tournament after missing the Wildcats’ 99-70 loss to Alabama in the SEC Tournament. Head coach Mark Pope shared the positive update on Friday, easing concerns about Butler’s shoulder injury.

Butler’s absence was felt in the loss to Alabama, as Kentucky struggled to keep up offensively and defensively without their dynamic playmaker. Fortunately, Pope clarified that the latest injury is unrelated to Butler’s previous shoulder issue.

Despite the loss, news of Butler’s return has lifted spirits within the team.

“That’s great. I mean, obviously, we were all worried about it,” said guard Koby Brea after the loss to Alabama. “Just knowing that we have such a big piece that’s going to be able to provide a lot for us going into this tournament is important.”

Amari Williams expressed his enthusiasm about having teammates return from injury, emphasizing the dedication they put into their recovery.

“I’m always excited when one of our guys comes back, just knowing they put in the work to recover and be back out there with us,” Williams said. “They give it 100% every time, and that’s what they showed, even the guys who weren’t able to return. We’re just thankful that we can get them back.”

With Butler’s return on the horizon, the Wildcats are hopeful for a strong showing in the NCAA Tournament as they look to bounce back from their SEC Tournament exit.

The 5th-ranked and 3rd-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide destroyed the Kentucky Wildcats 99-70 in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament on Friday night. The win gave the Tide a 3-0 record against UK this year, the first time Bama has ever beaten the Wildcats three times in a season. The only other teams to have matched this feat are Florida and Tennessee. Alabama improved to 25-7 and Kentucky fell to 22-11. The Tide will play Florida at approximately 2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday. The game will follow top-seeded Auburn playing 4th-seeded Tennessee at noon CT.

Coach Nate Oats stayed with the starting lineup of Mark Sears, Labaron Philon, Chris Youngblood, Grant Nelson, and Clifford Omoruyi. The Tide started off strong, grabbing an early lead, and never letting it go. The story of the half was Philon, and the Tide’s defense. Bama was able to forge ahead despite missing all of their nine three point attempts. Philon was a magician in the paint, exploding past defenders and scoring all sorts of ways at the rim.

Jarin Stevenson finally made a three pointer for the Tide with around six minutes left in the half. Nelson made the team’s second from distance with 4:46 left for a 36-30 lead. The Tide led 47-38 going into the locker room at halftime, but only 45-38 once play resumed. Multiple times this season Bama has had baskets that were awarded on goaltending calls taken away, and actually happened in both halves in this game.

In the first half the Tide shot 16-37 for 43% with only 2-13 from three point range. Alabama made 11-13 free throws for 85%, grabbed 20 rebounds, had seven steals, one block, six assists, and four turnovers. Philon led the way with 10 points, three assists, one block, and three steals. Nelson and Omoruyi both scored seven. and Sears, Mo Dioubate, and Stevenson added a half a dozen each.

‘The Wildcats shot 12-31 for 39% in the first half with 3-9 from behind the arc UK had 20 rebounds, two blocks, one steal, six assists, and eight turnovers. Amari Williams and Travis Perry scored 11 and 10 points respectively to lead the Kentucky scoring.

The Tide used the same lineup to begin the 2nd half. Youngblood and Philon hit early three pointers to push the lead out to 52-42 with 17:51 left. Philon was all over the court, continuing his outstanding start. Dioubate pushed the lead out to 13 when he drained a long three pointer with 16:20 remaining for a 57-44 lead. Stevenson and Aden Holloway took the torch and ran with it over a several minute period. Dioubate, Youngblood, and Sears joined into the three point brigade, and the Tide was on cruise control.

Sears scored nine straight points for 83-60 lead with 7:35 left. After the timeout one of Sears’ baskets was taken away on another reversed goaltending call. Stevenson and Philon took over and with the help of Holloway, were never threatened the rest of the day. Holloway made two late free throws to reach 99 points, but the Tide couldn’t reach the century mark.

In the second half the Tide blistered the nets, shooting 20-34 for 59% and 9-16 for 56% from deep. Bama also made 5-8 free throws in the half. Overall Alabama finished 36-71 for 51%, 11-29 for 38% from behind the arc, and made 16-21 free throws with 17 assists, four blocks, 11 steals, and turned it over 10 times. Philon scored 21 points, had four assists, three rebounds, one block, and three steals. Stevenson seems to come alive in the postseason and scored 16 on 6-8 shooting with 3-5 from behind the arc and added four rebounds, an assist, a block, and three steals. Holloway had 13 with four assists, Sears added 13 of his own with four assists, and Dioubate scored 13 with eight rebounds, two blocks, and steal.
Kentucky was held to 9-25 shooting in the second half by the suddenly resurgent Alabama defense.

The Cats hit 2-10 from deep and just 12-21 at the charity stripe in the period. Overall UK was 21-56 for 38%, 5-19 from three point range, and 22-35 on freebies. The Wildcats turned it over 16 times, dished 12 assists, blocked three shots, and had six steals. Andrew Carr led the team with 18 points, followed by Williams with 16 points and seven rebounds.
After the game Oats said ““we have some tough minded kids, we wanted to press them (Kentucky) and we were able to score 29 points off of 16 turnovers.” This was the worst loss in the SEC Tournament In Kentucky’s illustrious history. Oats continues to take Alabama basketball to places it has never been.

Next up a battle with the team that is playing better than anyone in the country right now, the Florida Gators. The Tide seems poised to be able to handle the rematch of several days ago, and would love to make up for the loss UF handed them at Coleman Coliseum.

Tip is at 2:30 CT. Roll Tide

• Indiana All-Stars play Kentucky on June 7 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

The 2025 Indiana high school girls basketball Indiana All-Stars have been selected.

This year’s 13-player roster includes 11 Division I commits, including four Power 4 recruits.

Players were selected by event director Mike Broughton and All-Stars coach Stacy Mitchell of Warren Central. Mitchell will be assisted by Hamilton Southeastern’s Brian Satterfield and Jennings County’s Kristi Sigler.

More: Meet the 2025 Indiana Junior All-Stars to face Kentucky

Futures Game: State’s top freshmen, sophomores headline 2025 rosters

In a statement, Broughton said he, his staff and the All-Star coaches “watched many more games across the state than we normally do in a given year.”

“The 2025 edition of the Indiana All-Stars is a quality group that we feel will compete well against a Kentucky roster that includes two McDonald’s All Americans,” he continued. “This team with Stacy Mitchell of Warren Central as the head coach is blessed with size, quickness and shooting ability. Every year it is our goal to put together the best team who can work and play together to beat Kentucky. This group of All-Stars will be fun to watch.”

The Junior-Senior exhibition game is set for June 4 at Greenfield-Central. The first game against Kentucky will be June 6 at a site to be announced. The final game against Kentucky will be June 7 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. All three dates will be doubleheaders with the IndyStar Indiana boys All-Stars.

2025 Indiana Miss Basketball will be announced at a later date.

2025 Indiana All-Stars

Players listed in alphabetical order with college commitment in parentheses.

Laila Abdurraqib, Lawrence Central (New Mexico)

A 5-8 point guard, Abdurraqib helped lead Lawrence Central to a state championship as a junior and a 22-2 finish as a senior. She averaged a career-high 14.2 points on 46% shooting, plus 5.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.3 steals per game. Abdurraqib totaled 1,061 points, 396 rebounds, 329 assists and 203 steals in three-plus varsity seasons (freshman and sophomore years shortened by injury).

Addi Baxter, Columbia City (Butler)

The program’s all-time leader for career points (1,859), assists (523), steals (478) and field goals made, the 5-9 Baxter led the semistate runner-up Eagles to their first sectional and regional titles since 1999-2000, averaging 24 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 5.3 steals. She won 86 games over her four-year career.

Ella Bobe, South Knox (Southern Indiana)

The 5-9 point guard led the powerhouse Spartans to a 28-2 finish (only losses to 4A’s Hamilton Southeastern and Homestead) and the Class 2A state championship — the school’s first in any sport. Bobe averaged 19.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.3 steals as a senior, and finished her career as the school’s all-time leader in points (1,756), assists (418) and 3s made (183).

Addie Bowsman*, Twin Lakes (Saint Francis, IN)

Bowsman, a Junior Indiana All-Star, suffered a season-ending knee injury in early October and will be unable to play. The 5-9 guard averaged over 21 points per game as a junior, and finished her varsity career with 1,440 points, 462 rebounds, 469 assists and 180 steals. Bowsman started on senior night earlier this year and scored the game’s first basket before exiting to a standing ovation.

Avery Gordon, Brownsburg (Purdue)

The 6-6 Gordon finished her career second on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,626 points, to go with 816 rebounds and 227 blocks. A 56% shooter, she averaged 20.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game — both career-highs — and totaled 80 blocks. Gordon also recorded 14 double-doubles.

Jacklynn Hosier, Alexandria (Vermont)

A 5-9 guard, Hosier averaged 20-plus points for a third consecutive season, clocking a career-high 25.2 over 27 games. She shot 52% from the field, 39% from 3 and 83% at the line, and rounded out her line with 7.2 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 7.4 steals per game. Hosier totaled a Madison County record 2,108 points, 563 rebounds, 392 assists and school-record 523 steals in four seasons.

Kya Hurt, Lawrence North (Illinois State)

It was a banner year for the 5-8 point guard, who averaged 12.6 points, 3.7 assists, 3.4 assists and 3.8 rebounds for the 4A state champion Wildcats. Hurt shot 46% from the field, 64% at the free throw line and converted 26-of-68 3-point tries (38%). She totaled 790 points, 257 assists and 199 steals for her career.

Jaylah Lampley, Lawrence Central (Mississippi State)

Lampley, a 6-1 shooting guard, led the Bears to 81 wins during her varsity career. She averaged 21.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 1.6 steals over 24 games as a senior, and finished her four-year career with a school-record 1,802 points, 580 rebounds, 209 steals, 201 assists and 52 blocks. 

Maya Makalusky, Hamilton Southeastern (Indiana)

The IU-bound Makalusky put together a well-rounded stat line as a senior, averaging 22.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.8 steals for the 4A semistate runner-up Royals. She maintained her efficiency as a shooter, firing 49% from the floor, 40% from 3 and 80% at the line. The 6-4 guard will graduate as HSE’s all-time leading scorer with 1,933 points.

Monique Mitchell, South Bend Washington (Akron)

It was a career-year for the 5-11 forward, who set career-highs in points (18.2), rebounds (4.3), assists (2.6) and steals (3) per game, while shooting 49% (37% from 3, 75% at the line) and totaling 33 blocks. Mitchell, who accrued 97 wins, two regional titles and a 3A state championship as a freshman, finished her career with 1,313 points, 467 rebounds, 233 steals and 101 blocks.

Meredith Tippner, Noblesville (Miami)

Tippner scored a single-season record 623 points in 24 games this season, leaving her with 1,779 career points, second-most in Noblesville history. The 5-9 guard averaged 26 points, 9.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 4 steals this season. She rounded out her career line with 913 rebounds, 337 assists and a school-record 326 steals.

Kaycie Warfel, Pendleton Heights (Taylor)

The 5-10 guard/forward led Pendleton Heights to its first sectional championship in over a decade, averaging 23.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 5.2 steals. The school’s all-time leader in scoring (2,107 points) and steals (444), Warfel shot a career-best 37% from 3 and 48% from the field. She also accumulated 515 rebounds and 215 assists.

Brooke Winchester, Warsaw (Ball State)

Winchester led 4A state runner-up Warsaw to a 26-2 finish which encompassed the program’s first sectional title since 2015, first regional crown since 2013 and first semistate championship since 2004. The 6-0 forward averaged 13 points on 50% shooting (39% from 3, 80% at the line), 10.1 rebounds (school-record 282 this season) and 2.2 assists. She finished her career with 1,053 points, 688 rebounds, 163 assists and 113 steals.

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.