Denzel Aberdeen continues to come up clutch for Kentucky

We’re beginning to see just how good Denzel Aberdeen truly is as a basketball player.

After taking a backseat at Florida for the last three seasons, Aberdeen stepped into a starting role right away for the Wildcats. The 6-foot-5 guard scored in double figures in each of Kentucky’s first eight games this season (including a career-high 26 points against Louisville), but he hit a lull late in non-conference play, which carried over into the first couple of SEC games. Luckily for UK, those struggles appear to be in the rearview now.

Aberdeen has filled in nicely as Kentucky’s de facto point guard since Jaland Lowe went out for the season due to injury. With no more questions about his role on this roster, Aberdeen is playing with supreme confidence. The game is slowing down for him when the ball is in his hands. During UK’s current four-game winning streak, he’s broken 16 points in all of them. But more importantly, he’s consistently finding ways to make big plays when his team needs them most.

“He’s got to have the best stretch of any point guard in the SEC over the last two weeks,” Head coach Mark Pope said after Kentucky beat Texas 85-80 on Wednesday night. “He’s been unbelievable in clutch moments. His defensive effort was great tonight. He’s doing so much for us. He made every big play down the stretch.”

Aberdeen finished with 19 points against the Longhorns, nine of those coming in the second half — all from the free throw line. With the game still in the balance, he went 6-8 from the charity stripe in the final 80 seconds, allowing Kentucky to keep Texas just far enough out of reach. His ability to get into the lane and patiently wait for his moment to strike (whether that results in drawing a foul or knocking down shots around the paint) has been impressive the last couple of weeks.

“He’s just being really poised. He’s not rushed at all,” Senior guard Otega Oweh said of his teammate. “He’s finding his shots that are good for him, and he’s taking them and he’s been really efficient.”

Aberdeen and Oweh are proving to be a dangerous backcourt duo in the SEC. Over his last four games, Aberdeen is averaging 18.5 points and 2.8 assists in 32 minutes per outing (with just five combined turnovers) on insane shooting splits of 55.3/52.9/85.2. His outside jumper is falling regularly. He had 10 points in the second half against Mississippi State, 17 points in the second half against LSU, and 22 points in the second half against Tennessee — games where UK was down double-digits early before marching back to scoop up victories.

Kentucky would obviously prefer to steer clear of early deficits, and they avoided that against the Longhorns, but knowing Aberdeen can step up down the stretch is reassuring.

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