LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Mark Pope will not get enough credit nationally for the job he has done in his first season at the University of Kentucky. Or, if the Wildcats keep doing things like they did in the wee hours Friday morning in the SEC Tournament, maybe he will.
After Kentucky struggled with Oklahoma’s full-court pressure and saw a six-point lead with 41 seconds left turn into a one-point deficit 35 seconds later, the Wildcats emerged from a timeout, gave the ball to Otega Oweh, and got out of the way.
The Oklahoma transfer barreled down the right side of the court, took a left turn at the baseline and dropped in a runner with half a second to play, giving Kentucky an 85-84 victory.
It was the second time in as many games against his old team that Oweh had driven to the rim for a game-winner, the second time he terrorized them with his punishing drives and a timely three-point daggers.
After the game, asked by ESPN what he was thinking on that last drive, Oweh kept it short, if not sweet.
“Get downhill,” he said. “Get downhill and get a bucket. I was just trying to get downhill, whatever had to happen.”
Oklahoma coach Porter Moser said the plan was to trap Oweh. But he blasted around the trap.
“That last play, obviously emotional, we were going to be in a 1-2-2 trap,” he said. “You had the sideline and two players. We let it get around the corner. We knew where they were going. We were going to try to bottle him up and trap him. The trap was ineffective. Once he turned the corner, you just knew. He puts his head down. It’s hard to take a charge, do anything. He’s as fast and powerful as anyone in the country.”
Kentucky (22-10) got 27 points and five assists from Oweh, and 22 points and four rebounds from Koby Brea. It also got valuable play off the bench from big man Brandon Garrison, who was plus-11 in 20 minutes, with a pair of steals.
For Oweh’s teammates, it wasn’t surprising.
“Still in disbelief what just happened,” Brea told reporters after the game. “Otega Oweh, special, special player. It’s unbelievable what he just did out there. Shout-out to our teammates. The young guys really came up, and they grew up today. They made some big-time plays down the stretch there that were super important. Amari (Williams), BG (Brandon Garrison), Lamont Butler, just everybody. Everybody made an impact today. Happy about the win.”
Once again, Kentucky lost point guard Lamont Butler, who just hasn’t been able to get over the hump in his return from a shoulder injury. Butler played just eight minutes in the first half and did not play in the second.
And once again, Kentucky had to adapt. Pope has had to do this a half-dozen times this season, but these Cats have always seemed to land on their feet.
Still, Pope didn’t sound optimistic about Butler.
“We’ll put it together piece by piece,” he said. “I’m praying like crazy, I will be, that he can find his way back on the floor some point this year. It just doesn’t seem fair. This is not a fair game. I’m not saying that, but man, I would like so badly for him to be able to step on a court again. We’ll see how it goes.”
In the meantime, the chances he plays in Friday’s quarterfinal seem slim. Kentucky will face Alabama (24-7) for the third time this season, dropping a 102-97 decision at Rupp Arena and a 96-83 loss in Tuscaloosa.
“We get to be tested in an epic way,” Pope said. “We lost twice to Alabama. They’re a top four or five team in the country. We’re a little beat up and a little shorthanded. All that’s fine. That’s actually where you write the great stories. That’s why we’re all attracted to March, is because there are just these few teams that step up and do things that nobody thinks they can do, under major duress and all kinds of problems. If you don’t want to be part of that, don’t go to March.”
The post CRAWFORD | Oweh hits another game-winner, sends Kentucky past Oklahoma 85-84 in SEC Tourney first appeared on Voxtrend News.
