Sometimes the eye test tells part of the story. Other times, the numbers reveal everything you need to know. Against St. John’s, Kentucky’s transformation showed up clearly in the stats—and most people overlooked it.
Jaland Lowe played just 14 minutes and 41 seconds. Jayden Quaintance logged 17 minutes and 13 seconds. That’s it. Yet during those minutes, Kentucky looked like an entirely different basketball team.
The plus-minus tells the story better than anything else.
Elite two-way impact in limited minutes
Lowe was nearly flawless. He scored 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting, hit 1-of-2 from three, went a perfect 2-of-2 at the free-throw line, and added three assists and three rebounds—all without committing a turnover. His +20 plus-minus led the game.
Whenever Lowe was on the floor, Kentucky controlled the pace and played with purpose. When he went to the bench, the offense stalled and the flow disappeared. The contrast was striking.
Quaintance followed closely behind. In just over 17 minutes, the 18-year-old freshman finished with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds, and posted a +18 plus-minus. He played through contact, finished strong around the rim, and anchored the defense while battling Zuby Ejiofor.
Most impressive of all were the five blocks. For a young big man coming off a major injury, that level of rim protection doesn’t usually arrive this early. Quaintance made it look natural.
How two players changed everything
With Lowe and Quaintance in the rotation, Kentucky flipped the game. The Wildcats won the rebounding battle 39–28, dominated the paint 30–20, and tightened up defensively across the board.
Kentucky finished with seven total blocks, while St. John’s shot just 33 percent from the field and 26 percent from three. Clean looks vanished once Kentucky’s interior defense settled in.
Fans will remember the highlights—the blocks, the finishes, the emotion. But the numbers confirm it wasn’t random. Those minutes mattered.
A season-altering stretch?
At 5–4, Kentucky was dangerously close to letting the season drift. A roster without a true point guard or a projected lottery big looked exposed. But the version of this team with Lowe steering the offense and Quaintance controlling the paint suddenly resembles the top-10 squad many expected in October.
If both stay healthy, those overlooked plus-minus numbers may end up marking the moment Kentucky’s season turned in Atlanta.
The Wildcats return to Lexington for an afternoon matchup against Bellarmine on the 23rd, followed by more than a week off before opening SEC play in Tuscaloosa against Alabama.
That stat everyone missed? It might be the first sign Kentucky finally found its formula.
