Jaland Lowe on Kentucky's toughness: "That's just our identity"

Kentucky picked up their second-straight win on Saturday with a 78-66 win over Rick Pitino and St. John's, giving them their first two wins over quality opponents this season. But, they didn't exactly win those games how you might think a Mark Pope team does. They shot poorly, two of the worst marks in the Pope era when it comes to their three-point shooting. But, they were forced to try and win a different way, and they got it done.

In their last game against Indiana, the Wildcats forced them to shoot a season-low 4-24 from three, forced a season-high 18 turnovers while converting 23 points off them, as well as holding them to just 60 points. Kentucky on offense shot just 3-15 from three, and found other ways to get offense. That hard-nosed style of basketball was present once again in Atlanta, as Kentucky shot just 4-16 from three, but willed their way to a win. The defensive intensity was there all game, even in the first half when the offense struggled with Jaland Lowe out (left at 16:11 mark with shoulder injury), but once he returned near the beginning of the second half, Kentucky's offense was able to surge to the win, even without knocking down shots.

That should excite Kentucky fans, because Pope, the players, and even Pitino realized Kentucky has to start embracing this mindset of playing very aggressive and physical on defense, and attacking on offense. Jaland Lowe, who clearly changed the trajectory of this game, as we have seen throughout this season, knows that this team is very tough, and that's what they have to lean on. Lowe said he embraced that after he went out after aggravating his shoulder just seven seconds after entering the game. He knew he would be back in the game no matter what.

"My locker room experience after the seven seconds, sheesh, man, everything was going through my head. I knew after a couple minutes that I was going to be good. I think seeing these guys every day especially a guy like Jayden, they fight every day, and that's just our identity. We fight. We're a tough group. I knew if I was even a little bit good to be able to play I was going to give it a go. I told these guys at halftime, I'm going to go out there and I'm going to live in it. Like I said to everybody, no matter what day it is, every day I step on the court, it's a risk, but I know what comes with it, and my guys know what comes with it, but at the end of the day I'm a competitor, and I just want to go out there and play."

That tough mindset is exactly what has given Kentucky not only back-to-back wins, but wins that were finally against quality teams. Maybe it really is the mindset combined with the fact that Kentucky was finally healthy last game (minus Quaintance), but it's a style of play that they need to continue to embrace, because you can't just wait forever for your team's shooting ability to come around, and Pope and his team are understanding that. After the game, Pope applauded his team's ability to maintain their defensive intensity in the first half despite the offense struggling. "They never let it take away from their energy defensively. We made some mistakes defensively but our toughness and energy was there the whole time."

Want to know just how much better Kentucky's toughness has been the last two games? It was actually the first time in school history that the Wildcats overcame a halftime deficit of at least seven points in consecutive games and go on to win. If this was the Kentucky team that showed up for the Gonzaga game or before, they would have folded, especially without Lowe on the floor. Not this team, and now that Kentucky has its engine back in Jaland Lowe, who Pitino said really changed the game, and the infectious energy of Mo Dioubate, the real ceiling of this team just got a lot higher. Add the impressive highly-anticipated debut of Jayden Quaintance, and it's a ceiling no one expected the team to have a few weeks ago.

This Kentucky team will look to carry that new identity into conference play, because it will really, really pay off they can continue to bring that toughness and energy. A team that set a goal this offseason of becoming a top defensive team may be able to make it happen after all.