Mark Pope updates Denzel Aberdeen, Jaland Lowe's statuses after Georgetown loss

Kentucky clearly missed its point guards tonight, Jaland Lowe and Denzel Aberdeen. We knew Lowe would miss the game as he works his way back from a minor shoulder injury suffered in the Blue-White Game. Aberdeen was a late scratch due to a minor leg injury. Without them, the Cats looked all out of sorts in their second exhibition vs. Georgetown, losing 84-70.

When will Aberdeen and/or Lowe be back? That’s the question everyone in the Bluegrass is asking tonight, including at the postgame press conference. Mark Pope said he hopes both guards will return to action within the next week or two.

“DA has just got a sore leg. He’s trying to get 100% healthy, and so we’re taking a precaution with him. I’d like to have, you know, I don’t know where J. Lowe is going to be, but I’d like to have those guys back in action within the next week or two, I’m hoping.”

Kentucky tips off the season vs. Nicholls on Tuesday, hosts Valparaiso on Friday, and travels to No. 11 Louisville on November 11. The “within the next week or two” timeline puts Aberdeen and Lowe’s statuses for the showdown vs. the Cards at the Yum Center into question. Pope told Tom Leach that ensuring both guards are 100% and in good shape for the rest of the season is what matters most.

“We’ll see. I think they’re both close. We’ll proceed with caution on both of them. They are guys we’d like to have through the course of the season, but I think they’re both close, and so we’ll just kind of take it day by day by day and see where it goes.”

Collin Chandler started at point guard and struggled to run the offense. He finished with 11 points (2-9 FG, 1-6 3PT), 7 rebounds, 5 turnovers, and 3 assists in 28 minutes. Kentucky had 15 turnovers to just 14 assists, which Pope said was the story of the game. He noted that even with five turnovers, Chandler still had one of the better plus/minus efficiencies on the team (although in this game, that isn’t saying much). Should Lowe and Aberdeen remain out, he expects Chandler to improve.

“I thought Colin was exactly what you’d expect,” Pope said. “I thought he battled, I thought he competed. I thought he made some mistakes.”

“He’s a -7 (in efficiency), where we got a bunch of -16 and -10s and -9s on the score sheet. So he has a positive impact on the court. He’s going to get way better. This was a first time for him, and I think he’s going to be an outstanding player.”

Get well soon, Denzel and Jaland.