With Jaland Lowe out, can Kentucky basketball’s big men help with ballhandling?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- UK basketball is using its big men as ball handlers on offense.
- Mark Pope’s offensive approach empowers big men to be playmakers.
- The success of Amari Williams last season is a blueprint for future Kentucky players.
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Once again, Kentucky basketball finds itself battling the injury bug at guard.
The ceiling of Mark Pope’s first UK squad last season was capped by a lack of healthy players at the position — Kerr Kriisa and Jaxson Robinson both saw their seasons end prematurely due to injury. Lamont Butler played through several ailments down the stretch and into the NCAA Tournament, where the Wildcats bowed out in the Sweet 16.
Only four games into this season, more fears have arisen about the state of UK’s backcourt after junior Jaland Lowe suffered multiple injuries to his right shoulder in a four-week stretch.
While an official prognosis hasn’t been issued for Lowe, a new cast of characters has taken on ballhandling duties for No. 12 UK (3-1) ahead of Tuesday’s marquee matchup against No. 17 Michigan State (3-0) in the State Farm Champions Classic in New York City.
That includes the big men.
The likes of senior Denzel Aberdeen, sophomore Collin Chandler and freshman Jasper Johnson have all run the point so far this season. Those three players, along with preseason SEC player of the year Otega Oweh, will tackle most of those duties with Lowe out.
But a key talking point about this Kentucky team is its depth, reportedly assembled for the princely sum of more than $20 million. That depth includes some of the most versatile big men in the nation.
Junior forwards Mouhamed Dioubate and Brandon Garrison, along with freshman center Malachi Moreno, don’t play like the traditional big men of years past. They’re modern bigs, with enough ballhandling skills and passing chops to initiate offense themselves.
“It’s one of the nice things about the way we play. We feel like we have a lot of options to go to on a need-to basis,” Pope said Friday night after a home blowout win against Eastern Illinois. “… I feel a lot of comfort because I think we have a lot of options. And it’s not really options like the ball is going to be in this person’s hands all the time. It’s just that there’s a lot of ways that we can attack the game with guys that potentially could be playmaking deciders.”
UK basketball bigs have playmaking duties under Mark Pope
Throughout his college coaching tenure, Pope’s offensive outlook has enabled big men to serve as offensive hubs.
Pope’s final BYU team was a prominent example. Center Aly Khalifa (now at Louisville) ranked second on the 2023-24 Cougars with four assists per game.
Last season, center Amari Williams averaged more than three assists at UK on his way to becoming a second-round selection in the NBA draft. Garrison, one of four returnees for Kentucky this season, also displayed his passing ability last season with nearly two helpers per game.
“Pope loves a playmaking big” is how Moreno puts it.
The Wildcats can lean on the guard skills of their interior players to keep opposing defenses guessing, both in half-court and transition settings, and this will take shape in many ways.
It could be Moreno corralling a defensive rebound and initiating an outlet pass. Or Dioubate, floating to the top of the key and taking his defender off the dribble on a drive to the paint.
Garrison had four turnovers against Eastern Illinois, the fifth time in 39 college games he’s had at least that many. But as Pope pointed out after the game, Garrison can correct that carelessness by choosing to make simpler plays with the ball in his hands.
When functioning correctly, these players can help carry Kentucky through the growing pains of life without Lowe.
“It’s just a versatile offense that we have right now with guys doing different stuff,” Dioubate said. “… It just gives you a combination of different things you’ve got to deal with when you play against us.”
A common thread connecting Pope’s Kentucky teams and their skilled big men is the presence of assistant coach Mikhail McLean, considered a rising star in the coaching ranks,who works with UK’s frontcourt players.
“He is always teaching us all these different moves and how to handle all the ways that people are going to guard us,” Moreno said of McLean. “I just try to prep myself for whatever’s to come and (to) use that move whenever the defense plays me like that.”
Kentucky basketball offense to get major test against Michigan State
There’s obvious value in having an array of ballhandling options.
For all the early-season issues that have cropped up for the Cats, Pope’s team began this week ranked eighth in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom.
“It’s not just one person, whenever we get a rebound or steal,” said Aberdeen, who played the past three seasons at Florida and appears to be UK’s top point guard with Lowe out. “Anybody can just push it up and it just leads to easy offense.
“It’s less stress for everybody else, knowing that we can all handle the ball and take care of the ball.”
That will be put to the test against Michigan State.
Tom Izzo’s Spartans boast the 14th-best defense in the country, also per KenPom. None of MSU’s three opponents so far — Colgate, No. 21 Arkansas and San Jose State — have cracked the 70-point mark. Combined, those three schools have shot just 40.8% from the floor and tallied 40 assists against 36 turnovers.
In its lone high-major game of the official season, Kentucky had 14 assists and 14 turnovers in last week’s loss at Louisville. That didn’t get the job done at the KFC Yum Center, and it likely won’t Tuesday in Madison Square Garden.
“I always just try to protect the ball. It’s a big focal point for us bigs,” said Moreno, who had two turnovers and no assists against the Cardinals. “If we’re going to make all these passes, we’ve got to be able to protect the ball as well.”
Dioubate projects to be the best case study for how Kentucky’s bigs will fare with the ball in their hands this season. While he’s been lauded for his physicality and tenacity, Dioubate also brings a distinct offensive flair to the court.
In particular, Tuesday will be a showcase opportunity for Dioubate, who is from Queens in New York City and has never played at The Garden.
“I feel very comfortable handling the ball. I’m from New York City, that’s something I’ve always had,” Dioubate explained. “No matter any position I played throughout my life, I’ve always had that. So I’m very comfortable in that (role).
Dioubate also doesn’t lack for confidence, which makes him all the more dangerous when he enters playmaking mode.
“I think it’s going to be a challenge for a lot of teams trying to guard us, especially me on the perimeter,” he said. “Like, I think it’s going to be tough for them, honestly. Just the versatility that we have all around, it’s probably going to mess their heads up. You’ve got to go from a drop switch to a regular switch every possession. There’s different personnel we have, which makes us very, very talented.”
This story was originally published November 18, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
