Kentucky-Santa Clara Postgame Notes

KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
NCAA TOURNAMENT | ENTERPRISE CENTER | ST. LOUIS, MO.
MARCH 20, 2026
ATTENDANCE: announced at halftime of the second game of the session

FINAL SCORE: No. 7 seed Kentucky 89, No. 10 seed Santa Clara 84 (overtime)

Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky is 22-13 overall and Santa Clara is 26-9.
• Kentucky leads the series, 2-0.
  • The previous matchup was a 74-60 UK home win on Dec. 19, 2006.

Kentucky and Coach Mark Pope in the NCAA Tournament

• Kentucky is now 133-56 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
  • UK is 51-12 in NCAA tourney openers, regardless of the round the opener was played.
• Kentucky holds NCAA records for most tournament appearances (63) and most games played (189).  UK is second for most victories (133) and fifth in winning percentage (.704, 133-56, min. 20 tournament games).
• Kentucky is 8-1 in NCAA Tournament games played in St. Louis.
  • The Wildcats are 14-4 all-time in games played in the Gateway City.
• Kentucky is now 5-7 in NCAA Tournament games played in overtime.
• This is the first time UK has been a No. 7 seed since seedings began in 1980.
• Coach Mark Pope is now 3-3 in the NCAA Tournament, 3-1 at Kentucky.

Team Notes

• The game featured 12 ties and 20 lead changes.
• Kentucky is now 7-3 this season in two-possession games (six points or less) and has won seven of the last eight games in that category.
• Kentucky shot 50.8 percent from the field, 32 of 63. The Wildcats are 12-0 this season when making at least half of their shots.
• Kentucky made 10 3-pointers and the Wildcats are 10-2 this season when making at least 10 long balls.
• Kentucky won the rebounding 40-38 and the Wildcats are 17-5 this season when leading the board work.
• Kentucky won fast break points 18-6, with 16 of those points coming in the second half and overtime.
• Kentucky had a season-high 11 blocked shots.
• Kentucky had 19 assists and the Wildcats are 11-1 this season when 19 or more.
• Four players broke or tied their career highs for minutes played – Oweh (43), Chandler (42), Aberdeen (38) and Dioubate (32).
• Kentucky is now 6-10 this season when trailing at halftime.
• Kentucky entered the tournament having played the nation’s sixth toughest schedule according to KenPom.
  • UK had played 19 games this season against teams in the NCAA Tournament field, the most of any team in the NCAA Tournament.

Player Notes  

• Playing a career-long 43 minutes, Otega Oweh led the Wildcats with a career-high 35 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
  • His 35-8-7 total is the first time a player has accomplished that line in an NCAA Tournament since Larry Bird of Indiana State in 1979.
  • Only four players have a 35-8-7 line in an NCAA Tournament game – Oweh, Bird, Bill Bradley (Princeton, 1965) and Oscar Robertson (Cincinnati, 1959).
  • He also led the Wildcats in plus/minus with +7.
  • It was the first time he crossed the 30-point threshold.
  • His 35 points is seventh-most in UK history in the NCAA Tournament.
  • He has hit double figures in 34 of 35 games this season.
  • He now has 1,237 points, most points by a player in his first two seasons with the program.
• Tying his career best with 32 minutes, Mouhamed Dioubate totaled 17 points, tied Oweh for team rebounding with eight, and blocked three shots.
  • He has averaged 12 points over the last eight games and averaged 6.1 rebounds over the last 10 games.
  • It is his 11^th double-figure game of the season, five in the last eight games.
• Tying his career high for minutes with 38, Denzel Aberdeen kept his steady scoring with 16 points, including 4 of 8 from 3-point land.
  • This was his 26^th double-figure game of the season and 17^th in the last 20 games.
  • Replacing the injured Jaland Lowe as the starting point guard, he has warmed to the task as the season progressed. Over the last 10 games, he has 42 assists and only eight turnovers.
• Brandon Garrison made 5 of 6 field goals for a 10-point outing. He also had seven rebounds and tied his career best for block shots with six.
  • He is the first Wildcat reserve to have at least 10 points, seven rebounds and six blocked shots in an NCAA Tournament game.
• Kentucky is currently missing Jayden Quaintance and Jaland Lowe because of injury. Lowe is out for the season.
  • During his two years at UK, Coach Mark Pope has played only five of 56 games against high-major opponents (8.9 percent) with a full roster.

In the First Half

• Kentucky started the combination of Denzel Aberdeen, Collin Chandler, Otega Oweh, Andrija Jelavic and Malachi Moreno for the 16^th consecutive game.
• The first substitute was Brandon Garrison at 17:01.
• Trailing 26-21 with 5:30 remaining, Santa Clara closed the half on a 10-3 run to take a 31-29 lead into intermission.
  • Aberdeen led UK with eight points, Oweh with seven, Garrison with six.

In the Second Half

• Kentucky began the second half with the starters.
• Each team heated up early in the half, with UK scoring 15 points and Santa Clara 11 points in the first four minutes.
• Trailing 40-38, consecutive 3-pointers by Chandler and Aberdeen sparked a 13-4 run that gave Kentucky its largest lead of the day at 51-44.
• Santa Clara responded with a 15-4 spurt to reclaim the lead, 59-55, the Broncos’ largest lead of the game.
• Kentucky came back with five points to go back ahead, 60-59.
• Tied at 68, Santa Clara tallied an offensive rebound to go up 70-68 with 1:27 to go.
• Oweh tied it with a layup with 9.9 seconds to go.
• Allen Graves’ 3-pointer with 2.4 remaining gave Santa Clara a 73-70 lead but Oweh banked it in from approximately 35 feet at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
• Oweh scored UK’s final eight points of regulation, giving him 22 points in the second half alone.

In Overtime

• Trailing 79-77, an 8-0 Kentucky run gave the Wildcats an 85-79 lead they did not relinquish.
• There were numerous key plays in overtime:
  • Kentucky won the tip and got three offensive rebounds on the first possession before Oweh finished it with a layup.
  • After the three misses on the first possession, the Wildcats made their final five field goal attempts of overtime.
  • Ahead 81-79, Garrison blocked a shot which became his own breakaway dunk.
  • On the next possession, Garrison blocked another shot which became two free throws for Dioubate, making it 85-79.
  • Dioubate claimed the clinching rebound with eight seconds left, leading to a breakaway dunk by Aberdeen.
• Oweh and Dioubate each had six points in the extra period and Garrison had two points, four rebounds and three blocked shots in OT.