Otega Oweh's struggles are killing this Kentucky basketball team

Kentucky's star has not shined so far this season.

Nov 18, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Otega Oweh (00) reacts after a basket during the first half against the Michigan State Spartans at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Kentucky was absolutely dominated from start to finish by the Michigan State Spartans on Tuesday night, losing this game 83-66. Kentucky has now lost two marquee games this season, with losses against the Spartans and rival Louisville.

There has been a theme in these two basketball games. In both of these games, the Wildcats' opponents' star player had a massive game while Kentucky's star struggled.

Last night, Jaxon Kohler scored 20 points while shooting 8-12 from the field. In the loss to Louisville, Mikel Brown Jr. scored 29 points on 8-16 shooting from the field. These two teams got a big game from their stars, and this is why they won the game.

Nov 18, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Otega Oweh (00) dunks in front of Michigan State Spartans forward Coen Carr (55) during the second half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Kentucky, on the other hand, has not gotten good play from its star so far this season. Otega Oweh, in the two games against Michigan State and Louisville, is averaging 12 points while shooting 8-25 from the field (32%) and 3-11 from three (27%).

An inefficient 12 points is not going to get the job done for the Wildcats, and that is all they have gotten from Oweh so far, early into his second season in Lexington.

Ever since Oweh went to test the NBA Draft waters, he has not looked like himself, as he has been shooting the ball too much. Oweh is best when he is aggressive, taking the ball to the rim, and he just hasn't looked like himself this season.

Oweh's big dunk got Big Blue Nation on its feet, but then after this big moment, he continued to struggle for the rest of the ball game. Part of the issue for this Kentucky team has been the fact that the threes are not falling.

Nov 18, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Otega Oweh (00) goes up for a dunk in front of Michigan State Spartans forward Coen Carr (55) during the second half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

When the threes are falling, more space around the rim will open up for Oweh to take the ball to the rim, but that has not happened so far this season. Having a guy like Koby Brea on the floor made the defense pay a little bit less attention to Oweh, and this season, all attention is on the Preseason SEC Player of the Year.

Kentucky still has a lot of marquee games left in non-conference play, and if the Wildcats are going to turn things around, Oweh has to start playing some better basketball. Coach Pope has a lot on his plate to figure out about this team, but the number one thing on his to-do list should be to get his star player going.