Mark Pope shared injury updates on Jayden Quaintance and Mo Dioubate

Kentucky basketball is in a very rough spot right now. They've lost all four of their games against quality competition, each one against a top 25 opponent, and now, they're in dangerous territory with two games remaining in the non-conference schedule that are against quality teams in Indiana and #22 St. John's. They need a win bad, and they need all the help they can get.

Speaking of help, Mark Pope shared updates on Kentucky's two currently injured players, Mo Dioubate and Jayden Quaintance. Kentucky fans are eager to hear about Quaintance, who has been inching closer to a return for what feels like forever at this point, so let's start there. Pope shared some good news on his progression, but says he's still 'a ways away' from officially making his debut.

"JQ is continuing to make progress,” Pope said Monday on his radio show. “He’s still a ways away from actually seeing in-game live action, but he’s making tremendous progress." There have been some timelines thrown around for the 6-8 big man's actual debut, including the Indiana game and St. John's. No one knows for sure, but what we do know is Quaintance should be on the court very soon.

As for Dioubate, he remains 'day-to-day' with a high-ankle sprain, but continues to make good progress. That's good news as far as his progression, because Pope's quote from last week on Dioubate before the Gonzaga game sounded bleak, where he said "These things sometimes can be weeks and weeks and weeks, so he’s doing everything he can to get back." Dioubate has been out since the Michigan State game on Nov. 18.

Then, Pope shared some optimism about Jaland Lowe, who just made his return on Friday after he missed six games due to his shoulder. There seems to be no signs of any setbacks with a possible re-aggrevation, so Kentucky fans can breathe. Pope says he'll be a massive part of this team once he gets acclimated again. "(Jaland Lowe) continues to kind of just see limited improvement in how he’s doing," Pope said. "He has a chance to make a really, really massive, positive impact on the team. The more reps we can get, the more minutes in games and practice, he has a chance to make a big impact."

What kind of impact can we see from Lowe once he gets back comfortable in the rotation and gets a few more practices under his belt? "He's the guy that doesn't need a bunch of actions for him to be able to get down. He'll get in the paint," Pope said. "He's got terrific vision. He's a laser pass guy, on time, on target guy. We just haven't had him on the floor, we haven't on the practice floor. He has a chance to have a really, really massive positive impact on this team."

Kentucky needs all the help they can get, and it certainly sounds like good news on the injury front. And as Jaland Lowe gets more and more acclimated to being back into the swing of things, that will loom to be very important for turning this season around.