Kentucky's box score stars? Jaland Lowe and Mo Dioubate

A lot of Wildcats played roles in Kentucky’s 72-60 win over Indiana. After getting benched vs. NC Central on Tuesday, Brandon Garrison responded in a big way, making some critical plays to push Kentucky to a much-needed win. Otega Oweh may have been 2-8 from the field, but still finished with 10 points, going 5-8 from the free throw line.

However, the stars of the night were undoubtedly Jaland Lowe and Mo Dioubate. The duo combined for 27 points, 17 rebounds, 6 steals, and 2 assists, and led the team in efficiency at +24 and +18, respectively. Both came off the bench, Lowe in just his third game back from a shoulder injury, and Dioubate finally returning after five games out with an ankle injury suffered vs. Michigan State.

Mo and Lowe’s impact goes beyond the box score. Dioubate infused the Cats with the fight they’ve been missing, diving after loose balls and gobbling up rebounds. He notched his second double-double of the season tonight — on his birthday! — finishing with a team-high 14 points and 12 rebounds.

“It’s fun to have good stories,” Mark Pope said afterward. “It’s Mo’s birthday, and this is a game perfectly suited for Mo. He was a lead on the defensive end; his physicality and doing it legal was elite. He was great on the glass. It was awesome to have him back. I mean, he’s such a great competitor. I think it’s been killing him to be out, and so it was great to have him back. I thought it was incredible.”

When it comes to Lowe, Kentucky’s just a different team when he’s on the floor. The offense flowed much better with him in charge, particularly in the second half. In the final minutes, he took matters into his own hands, driving to the basket for a layup, rebounding a Tucker DeVries miss, and getting an and-one on the other end to push Kentucky’s lead to 12 with 1:47 to go. Lowe finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and no turnovers in 24 minutes. Pope expects more from him as he continues to knock off the rust.

“I thought J. Lowe was really terrific, for the most part, being able to kind of reattack and reattack and reattack and use the seal screen and kind of find a way in there to actually make some things happen. And once he gets his rhythm back and makes some of those bunnies, he would have a really impactful, impactful game.”

Kentucky finished with 10 assists to just four turnovers, while Indiana had eight assists to 18 turnovers. There was more to this game than guard play — and Kentucky still has a long way to go — but it was nice to have Lowe and Mo back out there.