Trent Noah was full-go in Monday's practice after suffering minor injury against Mississippi State

Trent Noah was on the floor for six seconds during Kentucky’s 24-point win over Mississippi State on Saturday night.

The Harlan County native was subbed in down the stretch of the Wildcats’ blowout victory, checking in at the 1:41 mark of the second half. But while running around a Mississippi State screen, he appeared to crash his knee into a Bulldog player. Noah immediately started limping and could be seen pointing to his left knee before ultimately being pulled from the game.

It was his first in-game action since taking the hardwood for nine minutes against Bellarmine on Dec. 23. Luckily, it doesn’t sound like he’ll miss any time.

“(Noah) checked into the game, and I think he made it seven seconds, five seconds before he had to check back out with a knee injury,” Head coach Mark Pope said during his radio show on Monday night. “I think it was just, literally just one inbounds play and bumped knees pretty hard, but he was full go in practice today, which is just Trent Noah. I mean, just tough as nails.”

Considering Monday brought the news of Jaland Lowe‘s season-ending shoulder surgery, it was nice to hear a positive injury update. And while Noah hasn’t been involved in the rotation as much of late, it’s likely his number will get called at some point the rest of the season. We just saw Andrija Jelavić play extended minutes against Mississippi State for the first time in weeks.

You never know when Pope could call Noah’s number.

“There are going to be more spaces, guaranteed 100 percent, there’s going to be more spaces this season where he comes in and helps us win games,” Pope said. “And he’s also got a great future as a basketball player. He’s a terrific young man and a great player.”

It’s been an up-and-down sophomore campaign for Noah, who was a day-one starter before going down with an ankle injury in the season-opener that sidelined him for 10 days. The 6-foot-5 guard was a regular rotational piece off the bench after coming back. He dropped 16 points and six rebounds against Tennessee Tech on Nov. 26 before being re-inserted into the starting lineup against NC Central on Dec. 9, when he went for 11 points and six rebounds. Noah started again in the win over Indiana, but played just 11 minutes. He saw three minutes of action against St. John’s, limited action against Bellarmine, and then was a DNP-CD in Kentucky’s first two SEC games.

For the season, Noah is averaging 4.5 points and 2.3 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per contest on a 40 percent mark from downtown. However, he’s shooting just 1-6 from deep this season against high-major opponents. Another opportunity to earn his place on the floor will come eventually, but he’ll have to prove he can knock down shots and impact the game if he wants to keep himself out there.

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