When the game got messy and Kentucky needed someone to steady the ship, Denzel Aberdeen answered the call — and Mark Pope made it clear afterward just how important that performance was.
In a 72-63 grind-it-out win over South Carolina, the Wildcats didn’t exactly play their cleanest basketball. They committed 15 turnovers, struggled at times to find rhythm offensively, and had to fight through long stretches of uneven play. But while chaos swirled around him, Aberdeen stayed composed.
The sophomore guard delivered a game-high 19 points, drilling four three-pointers — three of them in the first half when Kentucky built the cushion it never surrendered. His go-ahead three with 8:20 left in the first half sparked a momentum shift, and another triple moments later helped fuel a decisive 13-0 run.
But it wasn’t just the scoring that had Pope raving.
It was the control.
Aberdeen finished with five assists and zero turnovers — an eye-popping stat considering the rest of the team combined for 15 miscues. In a high-pressure SEC road environment, that kind of poise from a full-time point guard is invaluable.
After the game, Pope didn’t mince words.
He said Aberdeen “bailed us out.”
The Kentucky head coach explained that the staff felt Aberdeen was “due” for a breakout night. He had been building toward it with solid scoring outings against Georgia and Auburn, but against South Carolina, everything came together — shot-making, decision-making, and defensive effort.
Pope also emphasized how impressive it was for Aberdeen to post a five-to-zero assist-to-turnover ratio in what he described as a “messy” game. That level of efficiency, especially with SEC Tournament positioning on the line, is exactly what Kentucky needs down the stretch.
With Jaland Lowe out for the season, Aberdeen’s growth into the point guard role has become one of the biggest storylines of Kentucky’s late-season push. If he continues to pair aggressive scoring with mistake-free basketball, the Wildcats’ ceiling rises dramatically.
In a game where plenty went wrong, Aberdeen made sure the most important thing went right.
Kentucky got the win.
And judging by Mark Pope’s postgame tone, the Wildcats may have just found their steady hand at the perfect time.
