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Alex Poythress: Out for UNC game and Season

By John Woodcock

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Alex Poythress, the 6-8 forward for the Kentucky Wildcats, will miss the rest of this season with a torn ACL according to the university. Coach John Calipari said the injury just resulted from a breakaway layup attempt where there was no contact with another person. He just stepped with his left leg an went down.

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Alex Poythress Not Only Injury

Poythress was not the only injured Kentucky player who will or might miss Saturday’s matchup against North Carolina. Freshman guards Devin Booker and Tyler Ulis also might miss the game. The loss of so many players will likely cause Calipari to break up his platoon system that he has utilized so fat this season.

Losing the platoon may not hurt Kentucky as much as might be supposed. The players in the platoon are pretty good and can handle more minutes. They just do not have to at the moment. I doubt that Calipari will change too much so soon for this Kentucky team.

Losing Poythress may open up the post a little bit, but remember that Willie Cauley-Stein, the seven foot junior, still lurks down there and will offer a challenge down low that the Tar Heels have not had to face so far this year.

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    • A Challenge None The Less

    Kentucky offers a lot of size and athleticism for the Tar Heels to counter. Kentucky also might have revenge on its mind for last year’s 82-77 defeat. Kentucky has nine players over 6’6” in height. This will be a good test for freshman Justin Jackson as he defends people who are his size on the wing.

    The most difficult matchups will be down in the post and at the point guard. That is where Brice Johnson and Kennedy Meeks will have to give up some inches to Cauley-Stein. The point guard will put the 6’1” Marcus Paige against the 6’6” 210 Andrew Harrison.
    North Carolina plays Kentucky at 12 noon on CBS.

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