Mark Pope talks about possibility of shutting down Jaland Lowe

It's possible that Kentucky will be without it's leading point guard moving forward in Jaland Lowe. After having numerous setbacks with his shoulder injury throughout this season, those issues flared up once again during Kentucky's 92-68 win over Mississippi State on Saturday, and when asked if he will consider shutting down Jaland Lowe, Pope was brutally honest.

Lowe has delt with his shoulder injury all season long, as ever since he first returned from the injury on Dec. 5, he has since been in-and-out of the rotation numerous times, including against Indiana and St. John's, and now, Mississippi State. Kentucky's point guard made his second-straight start on Saturday, but left the game just 2:37 into the contest. That sent panic all throughout the arena, as BBN has seen the movie multiple times, where the team struggles without their engine (Lowe), in hopes he returns to save the day. Luckily, they didn't need him, as Kentucky looked like a completely different team energy and execution wise, but Lowe still never returned.

With the Lowe situation becoming common this season, after the game, Pope was asked if he will consider shutting the point guard down for just a few games, or even the rest of the season. Here was his response: "I think all options are on the table," Pope said. "He'll meet with the doctors tonight, and then it's always the next morning you kind of get a little bit more data information, just from how it responds and (then) I think we'll start the process of making an educated decision. It could be no games, it could be a few games, it could be all the games. It could be any of those things."

That is not a good sign for Kentucky fans, but in all honestly, that's what Mark Pope, the staff, and Jaland Lowe have to actually consider a lot more at this point. With this continuing to happen, Pope knows that, but he also knows there is a balance to not stealing their moment in the present, while also protecting their future.

"These guys have great futures in basketball, but they're dying to play right now. And so there's just a balance, right? You want to protect their future, but you don't want to steal their present from them. And so it'll just, you know, we'll go through that conversation. We have the best performance team in the world, so they'll help give great advice."

Kentucky looked good on Saturday even without Lowe on the floor, but losing him for the season would be a huge hit to the team's momentum moving forward. BBN will selfishly be wishing for at most an absence of a few games, but at this point, you do have to take Lowe's future in consideration.