UK-Eastern Illinois Preview: Storylines to track

Just days after suffering its first loss of the season at Louisville the Kentucky Wildcats (2-1) are back in action tonight in Rupp Arena.

Kentucky hosts Eastern Illinois in a “get right” game with everyone talking about the status of point guard transfer Jaland Lowe.

While Lowe’s status might overshadow tonight’s game we’ll still be watching and breaking down everything that happens. Before the game starts, here are takes from Cats Illustrated writers Jeff Drummond and Justin Rowland. They share what they’re watching for tonight.

Jeff Drummond: I don’t think we learn too much about playing without Jaland Lowe until the Cats hit the road for NYC and their Champions Classic matchup with Michigan State. This is one of those games tonight where, even if UK bounces back and looks great, most fans and observers will be quick with the “Yeah, but…”. I think I’ll be most interested to see if the Louisville result affected the lineup combinations that Mark Pope wants to play, and if Kam Williams’ performance against the Cards has earned him a longer look. The same with Andrija Jelavic. I also want to see if Otega Oweh’s rough night will lead to some changes in his approach. I anticipate we’ll start seeing him attack the basket more.

Justin Rowland: Like Jeff, I don’t think there’s too much we’ll be able to take from tonight’s game as long as Lowe’s health situation is up in the air. Are they starting to build up into what they’re going to be without Lowe or is this a placeholder situation that we’ll forget about when he returns to action? Not even Mark Pope probably knows. So tonight will be, more than anything, about maximum effort and addressing the deficiencies we saw against Louisville. The problem is Eastern Illinois will not be able to put strain on Kentucky in the same way Louisville did, so mostly I’ll just be looking for a suffocating defensive performance. Whether Lowe is good to go down the road or not, that’s what they have to develop into to become a championship contender anyway. We’re in an awkward place where we’re just waiting and wondering when or if Kentucky is going to get a couple of key pieces back. It would also be really nice to see Otega Oweh have the kind of breakout performance that makes everyone feel like he’s poised for stardom this year again. I think it would also be a positive to see Kentucky force more turnovers. That has been lagging to this point in the year.