FINAL: No. 9 Kentucky steamrolls Valparaiso 107-59 in Jaland Lowe's debut

Game two of the 2025-26 season looked a lot prettier for Kentucky than game one.

On Friday night in Rupp Arena, the No. 9 Wildcats (2-0) put their foot on the gas from start to finish in a dominant 107-59 victory over the Valparaiso Beacons. Kentucky was excellent on both ends of the floor, shooting 54.5 from the field, 11-28 from three-point range, and 84.6 from the free-throw line. On the other end, the ‘Cats forced Valpo into shooting splits of 28.4/23.5/65, holding a second straight opponent under 60 points to start the season.

Point guard Jaland Lowe, who sat out the two exhibitions and the season-opening win over Nicholls earlier this week due to a shoulder injury, made his Kentucky debut off the bench. The Pitt transfer finished with six points, five assists, and zero turnovers in 18 minutes.

Six Kentucky players reached double-digits in scoring, led by Malachi Moreno‘s first career double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Otega Oweh chipped in 15 points and five rebounds, while Collin Chandler and Mo Dioubate both added 14 points. Brandon Garrison and Denzel Aberdeen rounded out the top scorers with 12 points apiece as UK cleaned up the battle on the glass (50-34) and posted 27 assists to just six turnovers.

Coming off a slow start against Nicholls on Tuesday, this was the exact type of performance the Big Blue Nation wanted to see as a response.

A different Kentucky team came out of the gates compared to what we saw Tuesday night. Lowe started off the bench to start, but Aberdeen picked up right where he left off against Nicholls as the fill-in point guard. UK was up to 13 points and already led by double-digits before three minutes could run off the clock. Three-pointers (and free throws) were falling early and often for the ‘Cats. A 10-0 kill shot run in under 60 seconds right before the 10-minute mark of the first half pushed Kentucky ahead 30-10.

Everyone was getting in on the first-half action for the ‘Cats. Eight players had at least four points going into halftime, led by 10 from Aberdeen. Through 20 minutes of play, Kentucky shot 64.7 percent from the field, 7-13 from deep, and a perfect 7-7 from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, Valpo was held to a 26.3 percent shooting mark as a team. UK had 16 assists to just four turnovers. Everything was going the home team’s way as Kentucky took a commanding 58-26 lead into the intermission.

The onslaught would continue for the Wildcats out of the break. UK’s lead ballooned to 40 points less than three minutes into the second half. A 6-0 run right before the midway point of the half made it a 42-point lead, which would eventually grow to as many as 48 points down the stretch. At this point, you don’t need me to tell you how the rest of the game went — Kentucky kept cruising all the way to the easy win.

Up next: Kentucky will head to Louisville next week for a rivalry showdown with the 11th-ranked Cardinals. Tipoff at the KFC Yum! Center is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET (ESPN) on Tuesday, November 11. The real fun is about to begin, folks.