Currently sailing on a 4-game consecutive win streak, Kentucky will end this year on a high. However, there will still be a nagging concern for Mark Pope to address – Jaland Lowe’s injury. Lowe is tentative at best to return early next year, an issue that needs an immediate fix if the Big Blue Nation hopes to keep the momentum going.

“I am just going to say that Jaland Lowe is not going to be able to stay healthy the rest of the year. We saw this with Lamont Butler. RC, you’ve talked this enough with shoulders. So I said they need to go into their Amazon returns, and you know how if your return a package you could reorder it. They need to reorder a Acaden Lewis, who was committed there until Jaland Lowe decided to transfer.”

“They need to reorder Acaden Lewis and bring him back to Lexington from Villanova. That’s what they need. They need that other lefty point guard. They need depth. You can’t rely on Jaland Lowe with one bum shoulder. Go get Acaden Lewis back, go reorder him. Bring him back from Amazon, that’s the answer,” said Rob Dauster on the Field of 68 After Dark podcast, where he felt the need of the hour for Mark Pope was to get a possible replacement in Acaden Lewis.

Ironically, Acaden withdrew his commitment from the Kentucky program because he felt he would become second fiddle to incoming Jaland Lowe. He loved Kentucky, but not at the cost of his career being limited to watching from the sidelines. And thus he went on to represent the other Wildcats at Villanova, where he felt his talents were more appreciated and required.

Acaden has been a regular for Villanova this season, playing all 12 games, and is doing great for the team – 12.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 49.1 FG%. A player who holds a $328,000 NIL valuation surely can do wonders for Kentucky, which again has a tempestuous journey ahead with Alabama, Missouri, and LSU lined up. However, that’s not the only area where Mark Pope needs to focus his attention.

3-Point Shooting Needs Work For Kentucky

“You know what else they need? 3-point shooting. Gift them with 3-point shooting, like we’ll see what happens to RC’s point when they get into the SEC, and you’re playing against Alabama, or you’re playing in Thompson Bowling Arena at Tennessee, you’re playing against Cal Arkansas, whatever it may be, Florida like better make some shots, some perimeter jump shots. Maybe that’s the gift they need, health and 3-point shooting,” interjected Terrence Oglesby, reflecting on how the shooting can be enhanced too if they hope to find success in the deeper half of the SEC.

Well, can Oglesby’s logic be argued? Mark Pope’s men have made 114 3-pointers out of their 338 attempts, which makes it 33.73%. Apart from Trent Noah (30/54), nobody else has been able to do justice to their talents. Otega Oweh got 12/37, Denzel Aberdeen 18/50, Colin Chandler 24/61, Kam Williams 17/48; all tell you how the perimeter shooting has gone amiss.

While the top team in the SEC- Vanderbilt isn’t doing great either, according to their 3-point statistic (133/359), they still managed to find the hoop more than the Wildcats. So, while the holiday season is still on, and Mark Pope has a good amount of time at his disposal to make those changes, will we see a new and improved version of Kentucky at the Rupp Arena? Guess we’ll have to wait till 3rd January to find a definitive answer to that question.

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