Jaland Lowe is expected to 'give it a go' against Gonzaga, per report

Kentucky's offense hasn't looked like itself against marquee opponents this season, aside from a portion of the Louisville game. Well, for the first time since that game on Nov. 11, Kentucky is getting someone back that could give them some hope to get some flow back. According to Jeff Goodman, Jaland Lowe is expected to "give it a go" against Gonzaga on Friday night in Nashville.

Yesterday, Mark Pope gave an update on Lowe that was the most optimistic to date. "He’s been a little bit on the practice floor, he’s gonna try and practice a little bit today," Pope said Thursday." He did some live stuff yesterday, so he’s kind of working his way back in and we’ll see how that goes. I don’t know (about Gonzaga), we’ll see, don’t know. I’m not sure.”

As he does continue to work his way back into the rotation, it will be interesting to see how quickly he does make an impact, as fans shouldn't be surprised at all if it take him some time to get a groove back and knock the rust off. Kentucky has certainly not looked the same without him, and the fact that he is even playing an important matchup like this is pivotal, as Kentucky is still searching for that first marquee win after losing their first three top 25 games of the season, getting embarrassed in all three.

Kentucky may be getting Lowe back, which will help with the offense's flow and open up opportunities for the offense to find buckets, but Mo Dioubate being out is going to be a massive hit in this game, especially. Gonzaga is a very, very physical team that will crash the glass aggressively and get much of their points from inside. Dioubate is someone who is built to handle matchups like this.

Mark Pope shared an update on his status with a "high ankle sprain," which could last for weeks: "There's a chance maybe next week," Pope said Thursday. "These things sometimes can be weeks and weeks and weeks, so he’s doing everything he can to get back." Kentucky will have their hands full down low with Graham Ike, who is one of the more aggressive players in the country, and he'll be a handful down low. Kentucky will need some guys to embrace that and improve the rebounding after Tuesday's debacle.

Getting low back is massive for this team, and even if he is limited in any capacity on Friday working his way back into the rotation, Kentucky fans should be happy to be getting him back.