OU Basketball: Oklahoma Rallies Late Against Kentucky, But it's Otega Oweh Again

Otega Oweh did it again.

The former Sooner-turned-Kentucky Wildcat ripped Oklahoma’s heart out for the second time in two weeks, taking over the late stages of their SEC Tournament matchup almost like he did in UK’s win in Norman.

Oweh made the game-winning layup with 0.5 seconds on the clock this time as Kentucky broke out from a tight game with an 11-0 run — and then survived a late OU rally to beat the Sooners 85-84 Thursday in the second round of the SEC Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Their regular-season game two weeks ago ended 83-82 as Oweh took over and made the game-winner with six seconds to play.

This time, after OU took an unlikely lead with 5.6 seconds to go, Oweh came out of a timeout, took the inbounds pass, dribbled down the right wing to the baseline, cut past three OU defenders and floated a left-handed drive that went through the net with a half-second left and ended the game at 12:06 a.m.

Kentucky advances to play No. 3 seed Alabama in the late quarterfinal game on Friday night, expected to start around 8:30 p.m.

OU’s future is now in the hands of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee — and any Cinderellas hoping to crash the dance.

Oweh, who played two seasons at OU before transferring to Kentucky last offseason, scored a game-high 27 points that included 16 in the second half — and a run of eight points in two minutes that turned a seesaw scoreboard into an eight-point Wildcat lead.

No. 14-seed OU is 20-13 overall (6-12 in the SEC regular season.

No. 15-ranked Kentucky, the 6-seed, is now 22-10 after going 10-8 in league play this season.

Here are three takeaways from Thursday’s game:

Otega Vu All Over Again

Just 15 days ago, back on Feb. 26, Oklahoma lost to the Wildcats in Norman 83-82.

It was UK’s first ever game in the state of Oklahoma, and it was fueled by Oweh’s triumphant performance against his old school: he scored the Wildcats’ final 18 points, including a wild, driving, twisting flip in the lane for the go-ahead bucket with six seconds to play, and finished with a career-high 28.

This time, Oweh’s finish wasn’t quite that emphatic. But, keyed by a late 3-point jump shot and then a powerful drive and free throw for a three-point play, it was enough to sink his old squad.

Oweh also had four rebounds and five assists, and frequently overpowered the OU defense or simply shot over them.

He opened the game with a 3, then assisted on another one as UK jumped to an 8-0 lead. After scoring 11 points in the first half, he opened the second half with two layups and a dunk before draining another 3 to spark the Wildcats’ final push.

The Sooners went five minutes without a field goal and made just 1-of-8 shots over a six-minute stretch as Kentucky pulled away to a 12-point lead.

But OU wasn’t finished. Not hardly.

Jeremiah Fears nearly put on an Oweh-type performance of his own and pulled the Sooners out of a seemingly impossible deficit and into the lead before Oweh’s final heroics.

Fears hit a three-point play and two free throws to cut the double-digit deficit to 81-77 with 48 seconds left, and his 3-pointer cut it to 83-80 with 34 seconds to go.

Fears then had a steal and assisted on Jalon Moore’s dunk, then Fears had another steal in the backcourt — both swipes were takeaways from Oweh — before getting free off a screen from Mo Wague for a driving, left-handed layup that put the Sooners on top 84-83.

The Sooners got 28 points and three steals from Fears, but he was just 2-of-11 from 3-point range.

Elvis and Moore scored 12 each for the Sooners.

Backed Wednesday by the endless hordes of Big Blue Nation, Kentucky players looked more comfortable this time around in Nashville, just a three-hour drive from Lexington. Still, the Sooners were unbowed by the decisive home crowd.

In the regular-season matchup, Kentucky shot 50 percent from the field (29-of-58) while the Sooners shot 53 percent (30-of-57). OU withstood the taller, more athletic Wildcats that night, outrebounding Kentucky 34-31 and only trailing 40-36 in paint scoring.

With senior center Sam Godwin out for the second straight game with a knee injury, and wit Wague in early foul trouble, Oklahoma was literally shorthanded in the low post.

That played out on the court as OU played the first 37 minutes with just one offensive rebound (they finished with four) and two second-chance points.

Sooners Overcome Slow Start

OU missed its first five 3-pointers while UK hit three of its first four and built early leads of 8-0 and 12-3.

Luke Northweather finally broke the ice for the Sooners from deep, hitting the first trey at the 11:47 mark of the first half, cutting it to 19-14.

A 3 by Glenn Taylor made it 19-17 with 10 minutes to go in the half, and driving layups by Fears and Moore cut it to 25-23 with 6:15 on the clock.

A long 2-pointer from Elvis tied it at 25 with 5:30 left, and Fears’ fast break layup gave OU its first lead at 27-25 with 4:46 to go, a 9-0 Oklahoma run.

Kentucky turned back-to-back OU turnovers into points, but a long Fears 3 cut it to 33-31 heading into the final two minutes.

Elvis’ drive and turnaround baseline jumper put OU up 34-33, and Fears’ fast-break drive put the Sooners back on top 36-35.

In the final minute, Elvis hit two free throws (he finished the half with 10 points) and Fears (who led the Sooners at half with 12 points) missed a 3-pointer as the half ended with Kentucky up 40-38.

OU’s Postseason Hopes

After three straight seasons of not making the NCAA Tournament, the Sooners leave Nashville feeling very, very good about their future.

OU made its SEC Tournament debut on Wednesday and came away with a pulsating 81-75 victory over Georgia. It was a huge win for the Sooners’ postseason resume.

Beating Georgia was Oklahoma’s third straight victory — and third against a Quad 1 opponent from the NCAA NET Rankings — after finishing the regular season with wins over Missouri and Texas.

According to bracket guru Jerry Palm of CBS Sports, beating the Bulldogs moved OU up from an 11-seed to a 9-seed in the NCAA Tournament (Palm projects the Sooners to take on 8-seed Saint Mary’s in the Midwest Regional) and wrote, the Sooners “should be able to survive a loss to the Wildcats.”

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has OU moving up after the Georgia win, from an 11-seed to a 10-seed now (he forecasts the Sooners to face 7-seed Gonzaga in a first-round game in the East Regional in Cleveland).

Georgia came into the tournament with an NCAA NET Ranking of 31 and now sits at 34. Kentucky began the week at No. 12. The wins over Missouri and Texas both look even better after Thursday, as the Tigers took down Mississippi State and the Longhorns outlasted Texas A&M earlier in the day in Nashville.

Oklahoma tipped off Wednesday at No. 47, then had climbed to No. 43 ahead of Thursday’s action.

The Sooners now have a 7-11 record against Quad 1 teams in the NET rankings. OU’s seven Q1 wins going into Thursday rank tied for 14th in the nation and rank sixth among SEC teams. OU is also 4-1 against Quad 2 opponents.

If there’s any subjectivity in the committee’s decision, they’ll be impressed with how Oklahoma finished both the regular season and this game.

Even on a subconscious level, the rally from 10 down in the final minute to take the lead in that environment is the kind of thing that sticks with the committee as they begin considering at-large bids.