Injured PJ Washington Out for Kentucky vs. Abilene Christian in March Madness

Kentucky Wildcats forward PJ Washington will miss the team's first-round NCAA tournament game against the Abilene Christian Wildcats on Thursday because of a foot injury.

UK head coach John Calipari announced the news on Twitter:

Calipari said Wednesday that Washington, who suffered a foot sprain in the Cats' loss to the Tennessee Volunteers in the SEC tournament semifinals Saturday, wasn't dealing with a serious injury and could play in the March Madness opener.

"X-rays, everything was negative," he told reporters. "MRIs. We sent him to a specialist. Again, precautionary. He wants to play. If you know me, I'm like 'wait a minute. Let's go get one more level of this.' So we expect him. … We sent him to a specialist to make sure that he can't harm himself. But we expect him to play."

Instead, the heavily favored Wildcats (-20.5, per Vegas Insider) are taking the safe route with hope that they can cruise past Abilene Christian while giving their leading scorer a couple extra days to heal.

Washington has averaged 14.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.2 blocks, while shooting 51.5 percent from the field and 41.9 percent on threes, across 33 appearances this season.

PJ Washington with the Jam

Nick Richards and EJ Montgomery should both see additional playing time in the Kentucky frontcourt against Abilene Christian to fill the void.

Washington's next chance to play, should UK advance, will come in the second round on Saturday when the Wildcats would take on either the Wofford Terriers or Seton Hall Pirates.