Kentucky (13-6 straight up, 8-11 against the spread) guard Jaland Lowe is going to miss the rest of the season due to a shoulder injury that’s bothered him since sustaining it during the Blue-White game in mid-October. The transfer from Pitt is expected to undergo surgery to repair the shoulder soon.
Lowe played in only nine games, averaging 8.0 points, 2.4 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game while logging 18.7 minutes per contest. He had a 22/8 assist-to-turnover ratio, but he was making only 35.8 percent of his field-goal attempts and just 20.8 percent of his 3-pointers.
Arizona St. transfer center Jayden Quaintance spent the offseason recovering from surgery to a torn ACL. He made his season debut in a 78-66 win at St. John’s, playing 18 minutes and contributing 10 points, eight rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.
In UK’s SEC opener at Alabama, Quaintance produced five points, six rebounds, one assist and one steal in 24 minutes during an 89-74 loss. He’ missed four games in a row due to swelling in the knee, but the hope is that he’ll be back on the court soon.
Quaintance has averaged 17.0 minutes per game in four appearances, averaging 5.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 0.8 blocked shots per game. Before tearing his ACL last season at ASU, he was averaging 9.4 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.6 blocked shots and 1.1 steals per game.
Quaintance’s potential return can’t come too soon after another UK player went down in last night’s 85-80 non-covering home win over Texas as a 7.5-point favorite. Kam Williams suffered a broken foot that’s going to keep out indefinitely and perhaps for the rest of the season.
Williams, a 6-foot-8 transfer forward from Tulane, has logged an average of 20.0 MPG in 19 contests for the Wildcats. He’s averaging 6.9 points 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 APG.
Williams has hit 44.9 percent of his FGAs, 34.8 percent of his treys and 95.0 percent of his free throws.
Mark Pope’s team has won four games in a row to improve to 4-2 in SEC play. The ‘Cats will be looking for a fifth straight win Saturday when they take on Ole Miss at Rupp Arena on ESPN at noon Eastern.
Illinois (16-3 SU, 11-8 ATS) senior guard Kylan Boswell fractured his right hand during Monday’s practice and is expected to miss about a month. In 18 games this year, he is averaging 14.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.4 APG.
Boswell has made 47.5 percent of his FGAs, 30.8 percent of his 3’s and 81.8 percent of his free throws. He has a 61/24 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Illinois plays Saturday at Purdue. FanDuel has the Fighting Illini with +650 odds to win the Big Ten regular-season title.
Brad Underwood’s team has +430 odds to make the Final Four at FanDuel and 20/1 odds to win the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
As for Kentucky’s numbers at FanDuel, it has the sixth-shortest odds (+2200 or 22/1) to win the SEC regular-season championship. The ‘Cats are 20/1 to make the Final Four and 80/1 to win their first national title since 2012.