Kentucky basketball will be facing Michigan State in the Champions Classic showdown, but they have been dealing with some injuries that could affect them. One of those players is Jaland Lowe, who is not supposed to play because of an injury to his non-shooting shoulder, according to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports.
“Additional injury news: Kentucky coach Mark Pope told CBS Sports that Jaland Lowe is not going to play vs. Michigan State, either. Lowe is the starting point guard and remains out indefinitely due to a shoulder issue. Look for UK to go 10-deep tonight regardless,” Norlander wrote on BlueSky.
Lowe injured his right shoulder during Kentucky's Blue-White game on Oct. 17, and he missed both exhibition games against Purdue and Georgetown. He then missed the season opener against Nicholls, but returned against Valparaiso and Louisville. He re-injured the shoulder during practice last week and didn't play against Eastern Illinois.
“We don’t have anything yet, so we’ll probably have some discussions over the next couple of days about what’s the best thing to do right now,” Pope said after their game against Eastern Illinois. “That’s probably the point where we are right now.
“I think we’ve got a bevy of second and third opinions, and so right now it’s going to be more just like the whole group, the whole medical team, and mom and dad and J. Lowe, and me sitting down and having a real conversation about what’s the best thing to do move forward.”
It's uncertain at this point what the plan will be for Lowe moving forward, but the injury has to be bothering him if he's not able to play. At the same time, Kentucky could be looking to play it safe with his injury and try not to make things worse.
As of now, the team will have to rely on their depth at the guard position as Lowe is sidelined.
