Ryan Harrow was sick when Kentucky played Maryland on Friday, which is a major reason he looked, well, awful and only managed 10 minutes.
He didn’t practice over the weekend, either, and as Kentucky head coach John Calipari promised us on Monday, missing Monday’s practice cost Harrow the trip down to Atlanta to take on No. 9 Duke.
What that means for Kentucky is that Jarrod Polson, the star of the Wildcat’s win over the Terps, will slide into the starting point guard role. Freshman Archie Griffin and senior Julius Mays will also see some minutes at the point guard spot, but that would force both of them to play out of position. And as good as Polson was on Friday, that doesn’t change the fact that he’s a former walk-on. Kentucky survived more than anything with Polson running the show. He’s a scrappy guard that will make some hustle plays, will hit open shots and won’t turn the ball over, but he’s that’s about it. Kentucky is going to need Nerlens Noel and Alex Poythress to be much better than they were on Friday if they want to get out of Atlanta unscathed.
If Polson can once again come through for the Wildcats, however, I think it’s safe to say that Polson will immediately become a Kentucky legend.
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.