Kentucky basketball guard Jaland Lowe leaves Mississippi State game with injury

Kentucky basketball point guard Jaland Lowe is out injured, again.

Lowe — a junior who previously played two seasons at Pittsburgh — appeared to reinjure his right shoulder during the early minutes of Kentucky’s home win over Mississippi State on Saturday night at Rupp Arena.

After a defensive sequence, Lowe immediately grabbed at his right shoulder and made his way backstage to the UK locker room. This came less than three minutes into the game, which Lowe started.

Lowe was playing defense against star Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard when Hubbard burst past him toward the basket. Lowe absorbed some contact from Hubbard during this sequence while successfully knocking the ball loose. It appears the motion of Lowe knocking the ball loose with his right arm triggered the reoccurrence of the shoulder injury.

But, it was clear right away that Lowe’s right shoulder was causing him pain. He checked out of the game with 17:13 to play in the first half. Lowe did not return to the Kentucky bench in the first half, but he was on the UK sideline in the early stages of the second half.

Lowe has been dealing with a lingering right shoulder injury dating back to October, when he first suffered the injury during Kentucky’s preseason Blue-White Game.

He then reinjured that shoulder during practice on Nov. 13. Lowe also tweaked the shoulder in the first half of UK’s win over St. John’s on Dec. 20, sitting out the rest of that period before returning in the second half to help lead the Cats to their best win of the season so far. Lowe then sat out Kentucky’s nonconference finale, a win over Bellarmine on Dec. 23.

UK coach Mark Pope inserted Lowe into the starting lineup for Kentucky’s past two contests, a home loss to Missouri on Wednesday night and Saturday’s contest against Mississippi State. Previously, Lowe had been coming off the bench for the Cats.

Kentucky was already shorthanded for Saturday’s game against Mississippi State, with sophomore forward Jayden Quaintance out due to swelling in his knee as he continues to work his way back from an ACL injury.

This story was originally published January 10, 2026 at 8:44 PM.

Cameron Drummond

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-242-5257

Cameron Drummond works as a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader with a focus on Kentucky men’s basketball recruiting and the UK men’s basketball team, horse racing, soccer and other sports in Central Kentucky. Drummond is a second-generation American who was born and raised in Texas, before graduating from Indiana University. He is a fluent Spanish speaker who previously worked as a community news reporter in Austin, Texas. Support my work with a digital subscription