Denzel Aberdeen found his offensive spark in UK basketball’s comeback win at LSU
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- Kentucky basketball guard Denzel Aberdeen scored 17 points in UK’s comeback win at LSU.
- Aberdeen, a senior transfer from Florida, scored all of his points in the second half.
- Aberdeen’s offensive showing helped UK overcome an 18-point deficit against the Tigers.
With Jaland Lowe out for the remainder of this Kentucky basketball season, it’s clear Mark Pope’s program needs to make the best of a bad situation.
Lowe — a two-year standout at Pittsburgh who transferred to UK this offseason to be the Wildcats’ starting point guard — managed just nine game appearances for the Cats before his season was officially cut short following a series of right shoulder injuries.
Lowe’s lingering injury issues have meant the Wildcats have already gotten plenty of reps this season without him as their floor general. But now is the time for someone to step up and fill the role Lowe was expected to play.
Enter Denzel Aberdeen.
The senior transfer from Florida did just that in the second-half of UK’s wild Wednesday night comeback win at LSU.
Aberdeen scored all 17 of his points in the second half of Kentucky’s 75-74 victory, which was secured on a buzzer-beating jumper by freshman Malachi Moreno.
Aberdeen’s efficiency in the second half energized Kentucky’s 18-point comeback win. He went 5-for-6 from the floor, knocked in both of his 3-point tries and all five of his foul shots. Aberdeen’s three assists in the second period were emblematic of the way Kentucky shared the ball in the manner Pope has long been preaching for.
On a more granular level, eight of Aberdeen’s points in the second half came before the first media timeout, as Kentucky ate away at LSU’s advantage.
And this all came after Aberdeen was missing in action in the first half: No points or rebounds, one assist and two fouls in 14 minutes.
“Shoutout to Coach Pope, he got on me at halftime,” Aberdeen said. “(Pope) told me to be aggressive, be yourself. I just want to do whatever I can to get this win for this team.”
Pope has several options for allocating point-guard playing time with Lowe now out of the picture. Freshman guard Jasper Johnson continued to struggle against high-major opponents Wednesday, logging just eight minutes without recording a single box score statistic.
There’s also more room for sophomores Collin Chandler and Kam Williams. Chandler played 25 minutes against LSU, the most run for him in a game since early December. Chandler supplied the inbound pass — which was overthrown — that led to Moreno’s game-winning basket. Williams moved into the UK starting lineup for the fifth time this season but scored only five points in his 28 minutes of action.
Aberdeen, literally and figuratively, stood up as the adult in the room to straighten things out for the Wildcats on Wednesday. And all involved hope it’s a sign of things to come.
“I think Otega’s leadership was great. I think DA’s leadership was great,” Pope said, placing Aberdeen alongside the preseason SEC Player of the Year who led UK with 21 points.
In between last Saturday’s home win over Mississippi State and the LSU game, Pope repeatedly praised Aberdeen. Aberdeen graded out well in the UK coaching staff’s film review of the State game, whether that was by playing with patience or attacking with purpose. Those attributes also came through against LSU as Aberdeen led the Cats with four assists.
Aberdeen was the most likely choice to take over the bulk of Lowe’s responsibilities at point guard. It’s where most of UK’s lineups have placed him recently. For all the criticism that has come the way of UK’s ball movement this season, Aberdeen has hit the four-assist mark in nine contests, including in each of the past three games.
But there’s also the all-important intrinsic value of Aberdeen’s national championship pedigree. He’s the only one of these Wildcats to have been there and done that, appearing in all but one of Florida’s games last season as the Gators marched to the NCAA title.
Thoughts of that occurring in Lexington this season remain far-fetched following Lowe’s injury and the continued absence of sophomore big Jayden Quaintance. Remember, this Kentucky comeback win came against the only team in the SEC still without a win in league play (LSU is now 0-4 in conference).
But if Kentucky is to navigate the uneasy path of life without Lowe, then Aberdeen’s second-half performance cemented him as the player best suited to light the way.
In a perhaps symbolic moment on this front, Aberdeen was one of two player representatives, along with Moreno, to speak to the media alongside Pope following Wednesday’s game. Pope allowed Aberdeen to provide the opening statement on the win.
“We were down the whole game, but we battled back,” Aberdeen began. “No one put their heads down. We all played for each other.”
