Kentucky’s Mark Pope updates the injury status of Jaland Lowe, Mouhamed Dioubate
Kentucky point guard Jaland Lowe will remain out indefinitely.
UK coach Mark Pope provided the latest update on Lowe’s condition during his weekly press conference Thursday, saying the junior from Missouri City, Texas is still in the decision-making process about his future.
“We’re still in consultation, still seeing how rehab goes,” Pope said. “So right now it’s just a matter of, like, can he get to a place where he feels some stability and some strength. And so I wish I had better answers for you right now, but it really is kind of a day-to-day kind of process to see where he ends up. He’s got really good mobility right now, and so it’s just a matter of stability and strength and kind of see what we get and take another swing at it, if we can.”
Pope delivered that news two days after Kentucky lost 83-66 to Michigan State in the Champions Classic in Madison Square Garden, where the Wildcats mustered only 13 assists — a season low through five games — and couldn’t find any offensive rhythm for most of the night while also struggling to stop the Spartans on defense.
Lowe — a 6-foot-1 playmaker — came to Lexington this past offseason as the Wildcats’ starting point guard, but he injured his right shoulder during the team’s Blue-White Game on Oct. 17. He returned to the court for UK’s second regular-season game against Valparaiso on Nov. 7 — and played 30 minutes in the loss at Louisville four days later — but re-injured the shoulder in practice last week.
Marland Lowe, the player’s father, told the Herald-Leader last Friday that MRI results after the practice injury revealed nothing more serious than the initial injury. Following another meeting with doctors Friday afternoon, Mark Pope said no final decision had been made on Lowe’s next steps.
“Right now it’s going to be more just the whole group — the whole medical team, mom and dad, J-Lowe and me — sitting down and having a real conversation about what’s the best thing to do moving forward,” Pope said after UK’s win over Eastern Illinois on Friday night.
Before joining UK’s program, Lowe played two seasons at Pittsburgh and averaged 16.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.8 steals per game as a sophomore. Lowe, who was a third-team All-SEC selection this preseason, missed just one game due to injury in two years at Pitt.
With Lowe out, Kentucky will likely lean on senior Denzel Aberdeen as its top point guard, with freshman Jasper Johnson and sophomore Collin Chandler also expected to get opportunities at the position.
Heading into the game against Loyola (Maryland) in Rupp Arena on Friday night, Aberdeen has been UK’s starting point guard in Lowe’s absence, and he’s leading the Cats with 14.2 points per game. He’s also averaging 4.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists and a team-high 1.4 steals per game.
Johnson (3.2 assists per game) and Chandler (3.0) have been Kentucky’s top passers so far, other than Lowe, who averaged 7.5 points and 5.0 assists in his only two games.
Mouhamed Dioubate injury update
Pope also provided an update on junior forward Mouhamed Dioubate, who exited the court area in the final minutes of the loss to Michigan State on Tuesday night with what Pope said was an ankle injury.
Pope did not expect Dioubate to practice Thursday. He said his availability for Friday’s game will be a game-time decision, saying that there’s “probably some significant chance he won’t play.”
Dioubate was averaging 11.6 points and 5.8 rebounds in 20.4 minutes per game going into the matchup with Loyola (Maryland) on Friday night. He started the first five games of the season for the Wildcats.
The 6-7 forward played his first two years of college basketball as a reserve player at Alabama and shot 84.6% on 2-pointers in his first five games as a Wildcat, though he was 1 for 11 on 3-pointers in those contests.
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This story was originally published November 20, 2025 at 12:17 PM.
