Otega Oweh is on a historic run for Kentucky basketball this season

Kentucky basketball is having an impressive stretch of games as a team, but so is Otega Oweh. The former second-team All SEC guard was very highly-touted coming into this season, so much so that he was named the Preseason SEC Player of the Year, setting the stage for a monster season for the veteran. After started off the season struggling mightily, he has found himself over the last month.

It all started clicking when Kentucky hit the road to face Rick Pitino and St. John's in Atlanta, which was essentially the second game in a row where the Wildcats won a game embracing their defensive intensity and turning it into offense. The team was able to get going, and so was Oweh. The veteran guard had not scored in double-figures up until the trip to Atlanta, but that performance against St. John's sparked something in Oweh that told him that he can be the best player in the SEC, but it's all up to his effort. Oweh dropped 20 points for Kentucky that game, and since then, has not had a single-digit performance.

He has taken his play up a huge notch in SEC play, especially, scoring 20-plus points in five of Kentucky's seven conference games so far. Oweh's play has been so impressive that he now has the fifth-most 20-point games by a Kentucky player over the last twenty seasons. He has really been a huge part in the Wildcats coming away with these resilient wins, as his second-half play in particular has been spectacular. After Kentucky's win over Ole Miss, where Oweh dropped a season-high 23 points, where 20 of it came in the second half, Mark Pope talked about his terrific play as of late, and how, even as a veteran, he continues to learn valuable things.

"You said that (Otega Oweh) fell short a little bit in the first half of the season and that he’s been really good in the second half. I appreciate you saying that, that’s the hallmark of this team, that’s what we do," Pope said responding to a question in the postgame press conference. "Maybe we have taken on that DNA, right? Listen, like, a season is a living, breathing thing. Everybody, even a veteran like Otega is facing new challenge and new dynamics and having to understand the game in a different way. I love learners and I feel like he’s been an amazing learner this season. And that’s hard to do. It’s hard to do as a senior, but man, he’s on a run, isn’t he? You think about all the frustration he had during the first half tonight. And then he bailed us out a lot in the second half and was terrific. So, I’m really proud of him."

Kentucky has needed Oweh to step up and he has, a major part in the team's hot five-game winning streak. We're seeing exactly why the veteran guard was seen as the best player in the SEC coming into the season.

.@OtegaOweh took the game over in the second half.

20 PTS (6-10 FG) pic.twitter.com/qnrIIpfe9T
— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) January 24, 2026