Kentucky's Improbable Win Over Santa Clara was Perfect Encapsulation of its Season

The Wildcats lasted long enough to ensure its season would last at least one more day

Mar 20, 2026; St. Louis, MO, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Otega Oweh (00) celebrates with teammates after shooting a three point basket to tie the game against the Santa Clara Broncos as time expired in the second half of a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Enterprise Center. / Jeff Le-Imagn Images

Whoever writes the book or makes the documentary about this season of Kentucky basketball will have quite the story to tell and perhaps no chapter will be as exhilarating as what the Wildcats did on Friday afternoon in St. Louis.

Its 89-84 overtime win over Santa Clara was the perfect description of what its season has become – chaotic.

The Wildcats never trailed by more than four points in the game but, at times, looked lost.

"Of course we're going to the most dramatic play of the game," Mark Pope said. "There were several, but they bang a big-time three with, I don't know, six seconds left, maybe seven seconds left. And one of the things I was really proud of was there was no pause, throw your hands up, feel sorry for yourself reaction from our guys."

"They scrambled, got the ball and Otega raced down the floor and stopped right in front of me and as he raised up, he said "that's a bucket" and threw it in off the glass."

With a 3-point lead and 4:00 remaining, it looked like Kentucky was in position to get the victory when an offensive rebound off a missed shot by Otega Oweh coming between three players yet somehow being secured by Santa Clara’s Sash Gavalyugov.

It eventually turned into a four straight points for the Broncos that gave them a 68-67 lead with 2:19 left before things got wild and Oweh and Allen Graves took over.

Oweh tied it at the free throw line, Graves gave Santa Clara a 2-point lead, Oweh tied it with 9.1 left, Graves put the Broncos up by three with 2.4 seconds remaining before Oweh’s buzzer beater to send the game into overtime.

It was the ups-and-downs of the entire season for Mark Pope’s team, who showed the toughness to finish the job in the extra five minutes with its defense and offensive efficiency, something that hasn’t always been prevalent in the last four months.

Otega Oweh finished with 35 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Brandon Garrison went for 10 points, seven rebounds, and six blocks. Mouhammad Diobate had 17 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks. Denzel Aberdeen added 16 points on four 3-pointers.

It was also on a day in which one of its better shooters, Collin Chandler, was totally off from the outside on just 1-of-9 shooting from 3-point range. There was just something different about this version of Kentucky that the NCAA Tournament brought out of them

"We looked each other in the eyes in the huddles and just counted on each other," Garrison said after the game. "We wanted this more and stuff. We came out and played with a dogfight and I love these guys."

The win was a glimpse of what Kentucky’s potential is and how the Wildcats could be a matchup problem for many teams it the remainder of the tournament – which could be No. 2 seed Iowa State on Sunday.

It’s not always going to be pretty with Kentucky but the grit and determination it showed against Santa Clara could be a problem for its opponents in the future.