Oweh's Heroics Lead No. 17 Kentucky Past Oklahoma
Otega Oweh could not have scripted his return to Oklahoma any better. The former Oklahoma Sooner scored a career-high 28 points, including 23 in the second half, as No. 17 Kentucky held off Oklahoma 83-82 on Wednesday night at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman.
Oweh carried the Cats down the stretch. He scored UK’s last 18 points and 21 of Kentucky’s final 23 points, then blocked Oklahoma’s attempt at a game-winning shot with one second remaining to seal the victory.
Oweh, who played his first two years of college basketball at Oklahoma, enjoyed his return to the Lloyd Noble Center. He made 12 of 21 from the field, including 1 of 3 from beyond the arc and 3 of 5 at the free throw line to account for his 28 points.
Kentucky (19-9, 8-7 Southeastern Conference) got 12 points, four rebounds, three steals and three blocks from Oklahoma State transfer Brandon Garrison.
Oklahoma (17-11, 4-11) scored the first two points, as Kentucky missed its first four shots. The Cats tied the game on an Andrew Carr fast-break layup. After a Sooners’ bucket, Jaxson Robinson hit a three and UK led 5-4. Robinson scored again to make it a three-point lead before the Sooners scored to make it 7-6.
A Brandon Garrison layup extended the UK lead to 9-6. Oklahoma cut the deficit to one before Otega Oweh scored on a drive, then made a free throw, stretching the lead to 12-8. An Oweh putback gave UK a 14-8 advantage.
Lamont Butler drove to the basket, scored and was fouled. He converted the free throw to give UK a 17-8 lead, closing an 8-0 run. Oklahoma had a three-point play of its own to cut the Kentucky lead to 17-11 before Robinson scored again to give UK an eight-point lead. Oklahoma scored the next five points before a Koby Brea three gave Kentucky a 22-16 lead.
Oklahoma got a three-point play before an Amari Williams layup and free throw gave UK a 25-19 lead. The Sooners hit a three but Brea made a layup to make it 27-22. After an Oklahoma bucket, Garrison made a three and the Cats led 30-24. After three straight Oklahoma points, Brea scored again to make it 32-27. The Sooners quickly answered to cut it to three, 32-29.
Garrison hit another three to extend the lead to 35-29 but Oklahoma scored six in a row to tie the game at 35 apiece. A Williams free throw gave UK a one-point lead. Williams would make two more free throws to extend the lead to 38-35. However, Oklahoma scored four in a row to lead 39-38.
Kentucky would get a corner three from Travis Perry and two free throws from Brea before an OU layup at the buzzer made the halftime score 43-41 in favor of the Cats.
Carr started the second half scoring with a pair of free throws, but Oklahoma answered with a three to make it 45-44. Carr hit a three of his own to give UK a four-point lead. Layups by Oweh and Garrison gave UK a 52-44 advantage. After an OU three, Garrison scored off a turnover and the Cats led 54-47. Oklahoma would score to make it 54-49.
Two Butler free throws made it 56-49, but the Sooners would mount an 8-2 run to get within one, 58-57, with 13:27 to play. A Williams dunk gave the Cats a three-point lead but the Sooners tied it at 60-60 on a three-pointer. Oweh would answer with a three of his own to give UK a 63-60 advantage. However, the Sooners scored the next eight to lead 68-63 with 9:40 left.
Kentucky would get two free throws from Butler and a bucket from Oweh to get within one, 68-67. After an Oklahoma three, Oweh scored again and the Cats trailed 71-69. An Oweh breakaway dunk tied the game, but OU took the lead back, 73-71. A tough bucket by Oweh tied the game at 73-73, but the Sooners again responded to lead 75-73.
Oweh had yet another answer, spinning baseline for a huge dunk that tied the game at 75 apiece. After Oklahoma had an empty possession, Oweh hit two free throws, giving UK a 77-75 lead with 2:48 remaining. The Sooners would tie the game before Oweh scored again, giving the Cats a 79-77 advantage. Oklahoma answered with a three, taking an 80-79 lead with 1:45 to play.
Oweh broke loose underneath and scored on a pass from Williams to give UK an 81-80 lead with 48 seconds remaining. After two OU free throws, Oweh scored on an acrobatic layup with six seconds left, then blocked a last-second attempt by the Sooners on the other end to seal the victory.
Kentucky returns to action on Saturday, facing top-ranked Auburn at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on ABC.
