Jaland Lowe (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky fans panicked when point guard Jaland Lowe went out with another shoulder injury in the first half against St. John’s after playing less than 10 seconds Saturday but rejoiced when he returned for the second half.
Lowe’s return sparked a UK rally that produced a 78-66 win and UK teammate Kam Williams fully understands Lowe’s value to the team.
Williams scored 11 points in the second half and hit two 3-pointers off fast break passes from Lowe.
“It seems like he just kind of opens up everything offensively, especially in transition,” said Williams. “He’s probably the fastest player I’ve ever seen with the ball. So he just says whenever you get the ball, just run and he will find us, which he does.
“And if not, he can go score whenever you want. He can score whenever he wants. Just having a point guard like that really makes our job easier.”
Williams has learned just how quick and efficient Lowe can be distributing the basketball.
“You have to always be on your toes, always be ready because when he’s got the ball, he can find you anywhere,” Williams said. “There was a play he kind of drove towards the middle, and he looked at me in the left corner that caught me off guard. Just plays like that.
“You always have to be ready because he sees the play before it happens. Playing with a guard like that just makes a shooter’s job, or everybody’s job, way easier.”
Williams was relieved at halftime of the UK-St. John’s game when Lowe said he was “feeling good” in the locker room. Lowe has dislocated his right shoulder — his non-shooting arm — three times since June.
“He said it was like a slight shift or something like that,” Williams said. “He knew when he came back in the game, he knew he would be able to play. Having him out there just makes our job way easier. He’s the best playing guard, and also the best passing point guard. It makes our job on the wings easy.”
Williams indicated Monday that he felt St. John’s was a physical team and he knew they would “try to target” Lowe.
“I knew that they would try to hit him a little harder, or something like that. Him playing through that, it shows his toughness, his mental toughness because he’s really playing every game not knowing if it’s his last game or not this year,” the UK sophomore said. Him taking a chance just to play with the team shows how great of a person he is.”
Sophomore Jayden Quaintance played in his first UK game Saturday since his ACL surgery almost a year ago. He said Lowe is “super tough” to come back the way he did.
“I got a little worried. That’s a huge player for us, a huge piece for us. When he was able to check back into the game, it was just a huge momentum shift just immediately,” Quaintance said. “He’s a super tough player, vocal leader.
‘Defensively, he’s made huge steps. I heard he wasn’t great defensively last year, but ever since the summer, just seeing him, he’s super competitive. You can just see it with him on both sides.”
Williams said Lowe is the team’s emotional leader.
“Jaland is a great leader. Like I said, he is playing every game not knowing if it is his last game, so he just takes advantage of it at all times,” Williams said. “When he talks to us and kind of leads us, it makes us want to play harder.
“Obviously, we all want to have our full team every time we play, so we just play a little harder whenever he’s in the game, or just everybody’s in the game, because at the end of the day we want to win no matter who’s on the court or who we’re playing against. We all want to win.”
