Denzel Aberdeen made 'reproducible plays' vs. Nicholls that can continue with Jaland Lowe's return

Denzel Aberdeen filled in as Kentucky’s starting point guard to begin the second half of the Wildcats’ season-opening win over Nicholls. After the offense was a “bumbling mess“, as Mark Pope described it, in the first 20 minutes, Aberdeen took the reins out of the intermission.

That decision immediately paid off.

Kentucky scored just 28 points in the first half, shooting 32.3 percent from the field and 12.5 percent from beyond the arc. UK had seven assists to six turnovers. No Wildcat had more than five points. But in the second half? Kentucky shot 61.3 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent from deep with 14 assists to seven turnovers. The ‘Cats scored 15 points less than five minutes into the second half en route to a 49-point half. Three Wildcats scored more than five points after halftime.

Aberdeen, who sat out the exhibition against Georgetown with a groin strain, had five assists and zero turnovers as PG1 during 15 second-half minutes against Nicholls. He finished his night with a final stat line of 10 points, six assists, five rebounds, and not a single turnover in 23 minutes of action. He was a +16 in the box score in the second half, easily the best on the team. Collin Chandler stole the show with the highlights and career-highs, but Aberdeen could easily take the title of game MVP.

But what really excites Pope about Aberdeen’s performance is how he’ll be able to make similar plays even once Jaland Lowe, Kentucky’s presumed starting point guard and a preseason All-SEC Third Team member, returns to the lineup. Lowe is expected to make his UK debut Friday night against Valparaiso, which will move Aberdeen back to his normal off-ball role.

Aberdeen was precise with his approach in the second half against Nicholls. He was penetrating, drawing defenders, and finding his teammates. Even when he lost the ball on a spin move in the lane, it fell perfectly to Otega Oweh for an open bucket at the rim — everything was working. If there was a chance to push the pace, Aberdeen jumped on it. In short, he was making the simple, easy plays. All of that can be replicated even while playing off the ball.

“For (Aberdeen) to come in after sitting for five days and be a 6-0 (six assists, zero turnover) guy and do it the way we do it, was awesome,” Pope said during his Thursday press conference. “If he’s a 6-0 guy all season long, we’re going to be really good. And the way he approached the game, he got to 6-0 by making really, really reproducible plays. It was plays that he could actually make every single game. And his toughness and his physicality and his IQ showed through.”

Pope praised Aberdeen’s efforts on the defensive end, too. In Pope’s own words, Chandler and fellow guard Jasper Johnson are currently better suited to defend non-point guards. Aberdeen’s impact on that end of the floor was able to make life easier for his backcourt teammates. Chandler, in particular, was lauded for his defensive play against Nicholls.

“Denzel makes a big difference,” Pope said, referring to his defense. “It helps our other guys, too. Collin Chandler is, right now, is a better defender at the off-guard spot than he is guarding a point guard. That’s just true. So is Jasper, for that matter, in some space, although Jasper’s defense effort was terrific the last several days in practice and in the game. And so it helps move our guys to more natural positions, at least for some part of the game. And DA himself is an elite-level defender, he’s a great competitor.”

Putting Lowe into the lineup should only help everyone around him fill into their preferred roles. But Aberdeen has shown early on that he can take matters into his own hands by keeping the offense churning and the defense stifling. If it continues, he’ll be tough to deal with for opposing teams every night out.

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