St. Louis
Kentucky basketball won’t have it easy in its NCAA Tournament opener Friday afternoon.
The 7 seed Cats drew 10 seed Santa Clara in a first-round matchup in St. Louis, and the Broncos are likely to pose a stiff test to Mark Pope’s group.
After being depleted by injuries during the course of the season, UK hopes to be as close to full health as possible to start its potential March Madness run.
That’s set to be the case.
UK’s availability report for the game includes only two players: Junior guard Jaland Lowe and sophomore forward Jayden Quaintance are both out. No other players are listed.
For Santa Clara, the only players listed are redshirt sophomore Gehrig Normand and sophomore Chris Tadjo. Both players are out. Neither player has appeared in a game for the Broncos this season.
Kentucky and Santa Clara are set for a 12:15 p.m. EDT start Friday in St. Louis.
During Kentucky’s pre-tournament media availability Thursday morning, several Cats spoke about the injury issues they’re currently managing.
Let’s start with those who are are available to play against the Broncos.
At different points during last week’s SEC Tournament, freshman center Malachi Moreno, sophomore wing Kam Williams and junior forward Brandon Garrison were all part of the injury storyline.
Moreno didn’t play in the final 9:49 of Kentucky’s SEC Tournament quarterfinal loss to Florida. He underwent treatment on his right leg on the UK bench and was also seen with a heat pack on his right thigh.
Following the Florida game, Pope said Moreno was dealing with “some soreness” and the first-year standout would “be in top, peak-level performance” for March Madness.
On Thursday morning, Moreno said he is “all good” on the eve of his first NCAA Tournament.
“I think it was a little bit of a strain there,” Moreno said. “I mean, now we’re in the final stages of the season. I don’t want to sit. I don’t want to be the guy that misses out on this. So I’ve just been rehabbing all week and I feel ready to go.”
Moreno wore a sleeve on his right leg during UK’s Thursday practice.
Williams completed his comeback from injury during the conference postseason. Williams broke his left foot Jan. 21 during a home win over Texas. Exactly seven weeks later, Williams was back on the floor for Kentucky in the Cats’ first-round SEC Tournament game.
Across three games in the SEC Tournament, Williams totaled 37 minutes on the floor and six points scored. Williams’ playing time, and production, decreased as the Cats played on three consecutive days, though.
“I’m very, very grateful that we were able to get him into some games so he can have a little bit of feel,” Pope said after the Florida game. “Now going into practice this week, it’s just different when you’ve been in the game, then you can apply your practice to what you just experienced. I’m very grateful for that.”
Williams said Thursday he feels “way better this week” following additional recovery time. But, Williams stopped short of saying he was at 100% health.
Garrison still shouldered his normal minutes load for the Cats in Nashville despite recovering from a right foot injury suffered in UK’s regular season finale against Florida on March 7.
Garrison iced his right foot following each of Kentucky’s SEC Tournament games. Additionally, Garrison tweaked his right wrist while dunking in practice Monday. Garrison was wearing athletic tape on his right wrist during UK’s open practice Thursday in St. Louis.
Still, Garrison said he’s good to go for March Madness.
“I feel like our medical staff got (my foot) right for me. They worked their magic like they always do,” Garrison said. “It’s feeling a lot better than it was in the SEC Tournament.”
Kentucky enters the NCAA Tournament with 10 healthy scholarship players. This doesn’t include junior forward Reece Potter or freshman forward Braydon Hawthorne, who are both preserving redshirt seasons.
UK basketball still without Jaland Lowe, Jayden Quaintance
For now, nothing has changed regarding the status of Lowe or Quaintance for the Cats.
Lowe was ruled out for the season in January following a series of right shoulder injuries that required surgery. Last week in Nashville, Lowe spoke to reporters for the first time in months about his injury.
Quaintance will miss his 20th straight game for the Cats on Friday. Quaintance hasn’t played for UK since Jan. 7, when he started a home loss to Missouri. Quaintance has been out due to knee issues related to a torn ACL he suffered in February 2025.
Quaintance was UK’s top transfer portal addition this past offseason, but he’s appeared in only four games this season.
A return won’t come this week.
“JQ is making progress, but I don’t think he’s going to be able to cross the finish line before this weekend,” Pope said during his radio show Monday night.
On Thursday, Quaintance said he’s continued to focus on his rehab process.
“It depends how fast we ramp up,” Quaintance said of the possibility he will play for UK again this season. “I have the strength retained, but the swelling has still kind of been lingering around. I haven’t done too much stuff on court in a long time. I have to reinitiate slowly into that. It’s probably unlikely.”
Quaintance — who is projected to be a first-round selection in this summer’s NBA draft — didn’t participate in the live portion of UK’s Thursday practice.
Kentucky basketball begins its NCAA Tournament against Santa Clara on Friday afternoon in St. Louis. Ryan C. Hermens [email protected]
This story was originally published March 19, 2026 at 1:24 PM.
Cameron Drummond
Lexington Herald-Leader
Cameron Drummond works as a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader with a focus on Kentucky men’s basketball recruiting and the UK men’s basketball team, horse racing, soccer and other sports in Central Kentucky. Drummond is a second-generation American who was born and raised in Texas, before graduating from Indiana University. He is a fluent Spanish speaker who previously worked as a community news reporter in Austin, Texas.
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