On Saturday afternoon, Mark Pope’s UK basketball team will be tasked with reversing one of the low points of their season.
Last month, Vanderbilt rolled to an 80-55 victory over UK in Nashville, Tennessee. That represented the third time under Pope’s direction that Kentucky lost a game by 25 points or more.
Just like that matchup in the Music City, Kentucky will be down to just nine healthy scholarship players for Saturday’s rematch in Lexington.
The Cats will be without junior guard Jaland Lowe, sophomore wing Kam Williams and sophomore big Jayden Quaintance against the Commodores. All three players are listed as out on UK’s availability report for the game.
For Vanderbilt, graduate student Frankie Collins and junior guard Mike James are both out.
James, who previously played two seasons at Louisville, has appeared in 21 games off the bench for Vanderbilt this season. He’s averaging 1.5 points and 2.0 rebounds in 11.1 minutes per game.
Collins, a fifth-year guard who has reportedly dealt with a meniscus injury, hasn’t played for the Commodores since Dec. 17. Collins previously played at Michigan, Arizona State and TCU.
Following Vanderbilt’s win over Georgia on Wednesday night, head coach Mark Byington was non-committal when asked if Collins was still part of the Commodores’ program.
Kentucky (18-10 overall and 9-6 in SEC games) and No. 25 Vanderbilt (22-6, 9-6) are set for a 2 p.m. start at Rupp Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
This will be the 10th straight game missed by all three of Lowe, Quaintance and Williams.
Lowe is out for the season following a series of right shoulder injuries that required surgery.
Quaintance, a sophomore forward, will miss his 14th straight game due to knee issues related to a torn ACL he suffered in February 2025 while a freshman at Arizona State. Quaintance arrived this past offseason as UK’s top transfer portal addition, but he’s only played in four games this season. Quaintance hasn’t appeared in a game since Jan. 7.
Williams is also recovering from surgery after he broke his left foot on Jan. 21 during UK’s home win over Texas. This will be his 10th straight missed game.
Pope has left the door open for both Quaintance and Williams to return this season.
Pope has stressed the tight timeline that’s at play with Williams, who is no longer in a walking boot. Williams traveled with the UK team to Tuesday night’s win at South Carolina.
During his weekly press conference Thursday afternoon, Pope spoke about the value that Williams’ return would bring.
Williams is averaging 6.9 points per game while shooting 34.8% on 3-pointers, 44.9% from the field and 95.0% from the free-throw line.
“He grew through the course of season into one of our most reliable people,” Pope said. “… We’re in desperate need of minute help to kind of relieve some of the minute pressure on our guys. And he brings an incredible skill set… If he comes back, it’s going to be a huge boon for us. If not, then we’ll find a way to make it work, because we have the pieces that we need.”
Including Saturday’s contest against Vanderbilt, Kentucky has only three games left in the regular season. The SEC Tournament begins March 11 in Nashville. Round of 64 games in the NCAA Tournament start March 19.
Despite the depth issues that resulted from the injuries to Lowe, Quaintance and Williams, Pope hasn’t yet played freshman forward Braydon Hawthorne or junior forward Reece Potter. Both Hawthorne and Potter are preserving redshirt seasons.
Kentucky sophomore wing Kam Williams hasn’t played for the Wildcats since Jan. 21. Ryan C. Hermens [email protected]
This story was originally published February 27, 2026 at 8:14 PM.
Cameron Drummond
Lexington Herald-Leader
Cameron Drummond works as a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader with a focus on Kentucky men’s basketball recruiting and the UK men’s basketball team, horse racing, soccer and other sports in Central Kentucky. Drummond is a second-generation American who was born and raised in Texas, before graduating from Indiana University. He is a fluent Spanish speaker who previously worked as a community news reporter in Austin, Texas.
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