Kentucky has not announced the MRI results on Reid Travis' knee after the junior went down with an injury during the second half of the Wildcats' win against Missouri on Tuesday in Columbia, Miss. Photo courtesy of
UK Athletics/Twitter
Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Kentucky basketball star Reid Travis could be lost for the season if his knee injury includes a torn meniscus, a leading arthroscopic surgeon told UPI.
Travis, 23, sustained the injury with 10 minutes remaining in the Wildcats' 66-58 win against Missouri on Tuesday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia. Kentucky's Keldon Johnson was fighting for the ball under the basket when he fell back onto Travis' right leg. Johnson's body hit the outside of Travis' knee, sending the 6-foot-8 junior to the floor in pain.
Kentucky ruled Travis out for the remainder of the game with a sprained knee.
Dr. Derek Ochiai, a hip surgeon and sports medicine expert from Arlington, Va., told UPI that it appears Traivs sustained a medial collateral ligament sprain. That injury typically occurs when the knee is clipped from the outside. Ochiai estimated the prognosis for that injury as two to four weeks for recovery.
"The problem is that meniscal tears can also occur with MCL sprains," Ochiai said. "If there's a meniscal tear, then this would require surgery, and he'd probably be out for the season if the meniscus is repaired."
Wildcats coach John Calipari speculated after the game that it's possible Travis could miss two weeks of action.
"His knee was bothering him, so we'll get the MRI and we'll go from there and see. Hopefully, he's going to be OK," Calipari told reporters.
Calipari said he coaches every player like he is a starter because of injuries like Travis'.
"Now, if he is out a week or two ... if anybody had said, 'Wow you should have been playing more,' OK you are going to play more," Calipari said.
A Kentucky spokesperson told The Athletic and Kentucky Sports Radio that there is no update on Travis. The team is still in Columbia due to inclement weather.
Travis is averaging 11.3 points and 6.9 rebounds this season for the Wildcats. Kentucky battles Auburn at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky.
The Southeastern Conference men's basketball tournament begins March 13 in Nashville. The first round of the 2019 NCAA tournament begins March 21.
