Oweh's Career High Not Enough as Kentucky Falls at Auburn
Otega Oweh scored a career-high 29 points, but Auburn hit a game-winning basket with 1.2 seconds left to beat Kentucky 75-74 on Saturday night inside Neville Arena in Auburn.
Denzel Aberdeen had 16 points for the Cats while Collin Chandler added 10.
The game was tied 10 times and there were 11 lead changes. The largest lead for either team in the game was nine points.
Kentucky (17-10, 8-6 Southeastern Conference) scored first on a Malachi Moreno layup, but Auburn scored the next four to take the lead. An Aberdeen layup tied the game before the Tigers scored to lead 6-4. A Brandon Garrison tip in tied the game, then a three from Chandler gave UK the lead back, 9-6. However, Auburn hit three free throws to tie the game again.
Moreno scored on a half hook in the lane to give the Cats the lead, but Auburn scored four in a row to lead 13-11. An Aberdeen three gave UK the lead back and an Oweh jumper extended the lead to 16-13. Auburn scored the next five to take the lead back.
Oweh went to the rim to tie the game at 18-18, but the Tigers responded with five straight to lead 23-18. Mo Dioubate scored underneath but Auburn hit a three to lead 26-20. Aberdeen scored on the baseline to cut the deficit to four, but the Tigers scored to again lead by six.
Chandler hit an elbow jumper to cut the deficit to 28-24 and a Moreno layup got UK within two. After two Auburn free throws, Chandler made three at the line to cut the Auburn lead to 30-29. The Tigers hit one-of-two at the line before Oweh scored to tie the game. On the next UK possession, Oweh hit one-of-two at the line and Kentucky led 32-31. However, Auburn took the lead back on the next possession, then scored again to lead by three.
Oweh went hard to the rim for a dunk to get the Cats within one, then Andrija Jelavic gave UK a 36-35 advantage. An Oweh three-point play gave Kentucky a 39-35 lead, and that would be the halftime score. Oweh led everyone with 12 points in the first half.
Auburn scored the first two points of the second half, but Kentucky responded in a big way. Chandler scored on a dunk, Jelavic hit a three and Oweh scored on a fast-break dunk, giving the Cats a 46-37 lead and forcing an Auburn timeout.
The Tigers responded out of the timeout, scoring seven straight to get within two. Oweh hit two free throws to stop the run, but Auburn scored on the other end to cut the UK lead to 48-46, then hit a free throw to get within one.
Garrison scored a fast-break bucket then Aberdeen hit a three to extend the lead to 53-47. However, Auburn scored 10 in a row to take a four-point lead. Dioubate made two free throws to slice the deficit in half. After Auburn scored again, Oweh scored four in a row and the game was tied at 59 apiece. The Tigers would score to again lead by two.
Moreno made one-of-two at the line, but Auburn got a three-point play and a dunk to lead 66-60. An Aberdeen three cut the deficit in half, but the Tigers got two free throws to lead by five. Oweh answered with five straight points to tie the game at 68-68 with 2:01 to play. Auburn hit a three to take the lead back before Oweh made two-of-three at the line to get UK within one.
With less than a minute to play, Kentucky came up with a steal and found Oweh for a breakaway dunk that gave the Cats a 72-71 lead with 48 seconds remaining. The Cats got a defensive stop, then Aberdeen made two free throws with 18 seconds to play, giving UK a 74-71 lead.
Auburn hit two free throws with 14 seconds left to get within one, then forced a turnover. The Tigers missed twice, but got a tip in with 1.2 seconds to play to lead 75-74. Kentucky made a long pass but was unable to get a shot off before the horn sounded.
Kentucky returns to action on Tuesday night, visiting South Carolina in Columbia. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on the SEC Network.
