Lightning has struck Oklahoma twice late in the season courtesy of a former Sooner.
Kentucky’s Otega Oweh made a game-winning basket with under one second remaining on Thursday night in the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, giving the No. 15 Wildcats an 85-84 win, their second exhilerating defeat of Oklahoma this season.
Two weeks ago in Norman, Okla., Oweh scored the Kentucky’s final 18 points down the stretch, including a game-winning drive into the lane with six seconds remaining to give Kentucky an 83-82 victory.
Oweh, a junior guard who earned All-SEC honors from the league’s coaches earlier this week, scored 28 points in the win at Oklahoma. He scored 27 on Thursday in Nashville in a late-night affair that ended around 1 a.m. ET.
“I had those two turnovers before that, but coach always preaches ‘next play’ mentality,” said Oweh, who went 8-of-14 from the field and 9-of-10 at the free-throw line. “… I just tried to get downhill, and good things happened.”
The shot was an extremely difficult one.
“He’s really good at contorting his body in all different ways and still making the shot,” Kentucky head coach Mark Pope said of Oweh’s drive, which started on the right sideline and ended on the baseline, where the right-handed player lofted the shot over the Oklahoma defender with his left hand.
In the game at Norman, Oweh drove from the left side and hit a twisting runner with his right hand.
Kentucky also got 22 points from grad senior wing Koby Brea, who went 8-of-12 from the field and knocked down four of his seven 3-point attempts. Grad senior forward Andrew Carr added 11 points and seven rebounds.
The sixth-seeded Cats (22-10) advance to face third-seeded Alabama on Friday in the quarterfinals nightcap. The other quarterfinal games include Auburn (1) vs. Ole Miss (8), Texas (13) vs. Tennessee (4), and Missouri (7) vs. Florida (2).
Kentucky snapped a three-game losing skid at the SEC Tournament, an event it once dominated. The Cats, who have a 136-30 all-time record in the league tourney, had lost five of their last six.
To do so, UK had to overcome the loss of senior point guard Lamont Butler once again. He appeared to reaggravate his left shoulder midway through the game and never returned after having imaging scans.
“We had to respond,” Oweh said. “We’ve been through ups and downs all year… When stuff like that happens, we just have to pick each other up and look at it as a ‘next-man-up’ mentality.”
The Cats also had to withstand a 28-point scoring effort from Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears, who made some huge shots down the stretch to help the Sooners erase a 10-point UK lead in the final 96 seconds. His layup with six seconds left set him up to be the hero prior to Oweh’s big shot.
Oklahoma (20-13) now waits to see if it has done enough to land a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Sooners were listed by many analysts as a “bubble team” going into the matchup with Kentucky.
*****
In this “Rapid Recap” feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK victory…
KEY MOMENT:
Kentucky was able to stay mentally strong despite coughing up a 10-point lead in the final 96 seconds with a combination of missed free throws, turnovers, and questionable no-calls. Oweh’s drive for the game-winner was fearless, and he was rewarded for it.
GAME BALL:
Otega Oweh, Kentucky — Sometimes this is a tough call. Sometimes it’s a no-brainer. Oweh made it easy tonight. He now has 55 points scored in two games against his old team this season. He also had four rebounds, five assists, and three steals in a strong all-around performance.
BY THE NUMBERS:
1st – Player this century to score 25-plus points and hit two game-winning shots against the same opponent in one-point victories in the same season — Otega Oweh
2 – Players to make a game-winning shot in the final second of the SEC Tournament — Otega Oweh and Kenny Walker (1984 vs. Auburn).
2:49 – Time in which Oklahoma held a lead in the game. There were 10 lead changes on the night.
13-2 – UK’s record when Koby Brea makes at least three 3-pointers.
36-28 – Rebounding advantage for the Cats, who got seven from Andrew Carr and six from Trent Noah off the bench.
52% – Kentucky’s field-goal percentage (31 of 60).
QUOTABLE:
“There’s not a lot of human beings walking the planet who can have those two plays that he had late in the game and come back to hit a shot like that. It’s just a credit to his character and the character of our team.” — UK head coach Mark Pope on Otega Oweh.
UP NEXT:
Kentucky returns to action on Friday in the late game against Alabama. The Cats and Crimson Tide will tip off at approximately 9:30 ET at Bridgestone Arena. UK lost its two regular-season matchups with Alabama this season, 102-97 in Lexington on Jan. 18 and 96-83 on Feb. 22 in Tuscaloosa.
