The Kentucky Wildcats are hoping to have their full roster available for the first time this season as the Tennessee Volunteers come to town on Saturday night.

Many across the BBN thought that would be the case on Wednesday evening, but DJ Wagner and Justin Edwards were both held out with ankle (Wagner) and quad (Edwards) injuries.

But for the first stretch of the SEC schedule, it was Adou Thiero who was sidelined with an injury that John Calipari and the program originally relayed as ‘general soreness.’ That brought plenty of speculation from the fanbase, but the UK forward has been battling one of the worst type of pains: Growing pains.

Thiero spoke with Ben Roberts of The Herald-Leader recently and talked about the back pain that caused him to take a rest after the matchup against Louisville.

“That’s when it was just like, ‘Yeah, I’ve gotta stop. I’ve got to take a little time off,’” Thiero told Roberts.

This isn’t the first time that Thiero has experienced these pains either as he continued to grow once he got to campus as a freshman last season. The talented forward has a bright outlook on this situation though, as he hopes the growing pains disappear before the end of the season.

“But, if it is, we got the resources for it. We’re prepared to put in the work. I love this game. I love my teammates. I’ll do everything I have to, to be on the court with them,” he said.

Thiero has been a great asset to this team providing a physical presence in the paint, as well as being the explosive driving forward to help create opportunities for the plethora of shooters around him.

The Cats need someone to match up with Dalton Knecht tomorrow. Thiero could be the perfect player to do just that.