Born in
Evansville, Indiana, Lowery was a standout player for the
Evansville Harrison Warriors, bridging the "
Calbert Cheaney-era" to the "
Walter McCarty-era," Lowery played at Southern Illinois for legendary
Rich Herrin from 1990 to 1994 and later became an assistant coach, eventually serving under
Bruce Weber at Southern Illinois and moving with him to
Illinois after the 2002–03 season. On April 9, 2004, Lowery was named the head coach of Southern Illinois men's basketball team after
Matt Painter left to become an associate head coach/head coach designate to
Gene Keady at
Purdue University. On March 1, 2007, Lowery was named
Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year after leading SIU to a 25–5 regular season record. A highlight win for the season was when they beat the highly ranked
Butler Bulldogs on the road. The Salukis received a four-seed in the
2007 NCAA tournament, the highest for any Valley team since
Indiana State received a one-seed in
1979. On April 2, 2007, Lowery signed a seven-year contract extension. worth $750,000 annually. On March 10, 2011, Lowery received a vote of confidence from athletic director
Mario Moccia at a joint press conference, despite Southern Illinois suffering its third season with a .500 record or below and growing pressure from fans and alumni to fire Lowery. Lowery and the Salukis continued their losing ways in the 2011–12 season, posting a career-low 8–23 overall record with a 5–13 mark in conference play. Lowery was fired the following morning. Lowery was hired as an assistant to Weber at
Kansas State University on April 5, 2012. Lowery was hired as an assistant coach at Missouri State on May 1, 2022. Lowery was hired as an assistant coach at Northwestern on July 27, 2022 ==Head coaching record==