Jayden Quaintance not expected to play vs. Ole Miss, per report

The Kentucky Wildcats are getting set to face the Ole Miss Rebels on Saturday, looking to extend their winning streak to five games. But, in that span, one key player has not played, and now is expected to be out once again. Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 is reporting that Kentucky big man Jayden Quaintance is expected to not play vs. Ole Miss on Saturday.

Quaintance has missed the last four games for Kentucky following his four games played against St. John's, Bellarmine, Alabama and Missouri. At this point, it shoudn't come as a surprise that the Kentucky big man is expected to be out once again. Quaintance continues to deal with knee swelling following his return from an ACL injury in February. Earlier this week before the Texas game, Pope remained optomistic that Quaintance would be back on the floor for Kentucky.

"He's making progress. We're super optimistic, and he's kind of going through the process and hopefully he'll be back soon."

A few weeks ago, when Jaland Lowe was announced out for the season, Pope talked about how that decision came down to how well he can still impact the game despite the injury, and how that kind of same sentiment is also true for Quaintance moving forward. "I think for him, it's just, is there a way that I can functionally do this and get out there and contribute to the team?," Pope said at the time of the Lowe decision. "I think that's pretty simple. And I think at the end of the day, it's the same way for JQ, like, is there a way and get on the floor and actually positively impact this game?"

Kentucky clearly would like to have a guy like Quaintance back on the floor, but if he can't impact to the best of his ability, it begs the question of why risk it and cause it to continue getting worse. But, Pope remains optimistic moving forward that he will be back for the Wildcats.