ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Willie Cauley-Stein isn’t the only one wearing Kentucky blue limping AT&T Stadium.
Wildcats coach John Calipari already has had one hip replaced. He’s due to have the other one done this spring. But the surgery kept getting put off as the Wildcats went deeper into the NCAA tournament, and that’s just fine with the 55-year-old Calipari.
His limp has been pronounced at times, such as when he walked up the steps to the dais for Thursday’s news conference. He looks just fine at others - when he implored his Wildcats to make one more play in narrow wins over Wichita State and Michigan en route to the Final Four.
He surely won’t let it slow him down on Saturday night, when the Wildcats are likely to face Wisconsin in the national semifinals without Cauley-Stein. Their 7-footer has an ankle injury.
Calipari has been relying on massages to manage the pain throughout the tournament, and he hasn’t asked for any sympathy. Good thing, too, because he wouldn’t get much anyway.
“Part of getting older,” Kentucky assistant Orlando Antigua said with a grin.
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NCAA Finals Watch follows the Final Four games and all the activities surrounding the event as seen by journalists from The Associated Press in North Texas - from the big stadium in Arlington where the games will be played to downtown Dallas. It will be updated throughout the day with breaking news and other items of interest.
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