Kam Williams injury update: Mark Pope reveals Kentucky forward suffered broken foot

Kentucky head coach Mark Pope revealed that forward Kam Williams suffered a broken foot early in the second half of Kentucky‘s 85-80 win over Texas Wednesday night.

Prior to the injury, Williams scored nine points on 2/3 shooting in 16 minutes. On the season, the Tulane transfer was averaging 6.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.0 assist. He becomes the third Wildcat to deal with the injury bug this season, joining Jayden Quaintance (dealing with knee swelling and is expected back soon) and Jaland Lowe (shut down for season with shoulder injury).

Kentucky's Kam Williams has a broken foot, Mark Pope said in post-game after the 'Cats win tonight over Texas.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) January 22, 2026

“Kam’s foot is broken,” Pope said during his postgame presser. “He’ll be out. He’s just a beautiful kid. I thought he made some special plays tonight.”

Kentucky loses third member of rotation following Kam Williams’ injury.

The grim news comes just as Kentucky won its fourth consecutive SEC game for the first time in the Mark Pope era. Williams had started three consecutive games for Kentucky, all of which resulted in wins. Over those three starts, he averaged 5.3 points per game.

Just last week, Pope discussed how Kentucky has dealt with its injury bug all season long. The sentiment rings even truer now, as the Wildcats lose a third member of their rotation six games into conference play.

“It’s been a challenge not unlike every team faces,” Pope said. “So, it’s not a unique challenge in the sense that everyone’s facing it. But it is a challenge in trying to establish an identity. Mostly, because those two pieces are very unique to our team. Jaland Lowe brings something to our team that nobody else brings to our team, and [Jayden Quaintance] brings something to our team that nobody else brings.

“They’re both important parts of it. It’s not like we just move on to the next guy in the same way. We have to retool things and move on to the next guy. That part’s been a challenge, but it’s the same challenge that everyone else faces every single season.”

Following Williams’ injury, Kentucky‘s rotation will surely demand more minutes out of Collin Chandler (who scored a career-high 18 points in Wednesday night’s win), Andrija Jelavic, and Trent Noah. “He’s going to have to play now. And he can,” Pope said postgame about Noah. “He’s a good player who can help us win. He’s started games for us. He’ll get more minutes, and I think he’ll be great.”

Kentucky, now down three key rotational pieces, will look to win its fifth consecutive SEC game on Saturday at home against Ole Miss.