Kentucky’s top point guard will play for the Wildcats against Gonzaga
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- UK basketball junior guard Jaland Lowe will play for Kentucky against Gonzaga.
- Lowe has missed the past five Kentucky games due to a right shoulder injury.
- Kentucky is still seeking its first win this season over a high-major opponent.
Kentucky basketball is getting its expected starting point guard back.
Junior guard Jaland Lowe will attempt to play for the Wildcats against Gonzaga in a marquee nonconference game Friday night at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Multiple reports Friday indicated that Lowe — who has missed the past five UK games with a right shoulder injury — would try and play against the Bulldogs. This was confirmed when Lowe appeared on the court pregame and went through warmups with his teammates. Lowe is wearing a significant brace on his right shoulder.
On UK’s pregame radio show, head coach Mark Pope confirmed that Lowe would play against Gonzaga, assuming no setbacks occurred during warmups.
Lowe was not in Kentucky’s starting lineup against Gonzaga. He checked into the game for the first time at the under-16 timeout of the first half, with UK down 7-0.
On Thursday morning, Pope said Lowe had participated in some “live” activity during recent practices and would try to do more later Thursday.
“I don’t know. We’ll see,” Pope said when discussing Lowe’s chances of playing against Gonzaga. Pope implied that Lowe was set to go through a full-contact practice Thursday.
“He’s kind of working his way back in,” Pope added. “We’ll see how that goes.”
An offseason transfer from Pittsburgh, Lowe was projected to be Kentucky’s starting point guard this season. That hasn’t come to fruition, yet. Lowe began the regular season on the bench with an injury to his right shoulder (that’s his non-shooting shoulder) that occurred during UK’s preseason Blue-White Game.
Lowe was able to appear in two games off the bench — the most recent one being UK’s rivalry loss at Louisville on Nov. 11 — before he reinjured his right shoulder in practice. Lowe has been out of action since then, but he’s now set to return against Gonzaga.
Lowe’s return from injury is coming at a much-needed time for Pope’s program. Still ranked No. 18 in the nation, Kentucky (5-3) has lost all three of its games this season against high-major opponents. No. 11 Gonzaga (7-1) has already recorded wins this season over Oklahoma, Creighton, Arizona State, Alabama and Maryland. All five of those wins came by at least 10 points.
This story was originally published December 5, 2025 at 5:48 PM.
