'It's hard to be that consistent.' Otega Oweh always finds ways to turn it up

It looked like Otega Oweh‘s streak of scoring in double-figures was on the brink of being broken.

Kentucky’s leading scorer had just two points on his stat line with 9:50 to go in the second half against South Carolina. Coming into Saturday’s matchup with the Gamecocks, Oweh was the only player in the Southeastern Conference (and one of just 13 in the entire country) to score at least 10 points in every game this season. With the Wildcats still firmly in control, there wasn’t a huge need for the junior guard to take over.

But that’s exactly what he did. And it resulted in Kentucky blowing out South Carolina down the stretch.

Oweh finished his night with a team-high 17 points — now 23 straight games since the start of the season with 10-plus — to go along with his four rebounds, two steals, and one block in 29 minutes. The Oklahoma transfer poured in 15 points in less than 10 minutes. His outburst turned a nine-point Kentucky lead into a 23-point victory.

It didn’t matter if he was shooting threes, getting inside the paint, throwing down dunks, or hitting free throws — Oweh was dishing out buckets in every way possible.

“It’s hard, man. It’s hard to be that consistent,” Fifth-year guard Koby Brea said of Oweh. “The fact that he’s been able to do that every single game, like that’s really, really impressive. As a player it makes me feel a little bit comfortable, knowing that he’ll turn it up at some point. You know what you’re going to get from him every single night. He’s a super consistent player.”

Brea knows a little something about consistency. He’s made a three-pointer in 38 straight games dating back to his time at Dayton. By going 2-6 from deep against South Carolina, Brea has 17 games this season with multiple made three-pointers. He’s a career 43.9 percent outside shooter. You don’t reach those numbers without consistency.

Oweh appears to have stolen some of that from his teammate. This isn’t the first time this season he’s been well below the 10-point mark going into the second half. But he’s always managed to reach the threshold when it’s all said and done. At this point, he’s expected to do as such. Oweh’s 16 points per outing lead the Wildcats.

“I don’t even think about it now,” Oweh said of his streak. “I just go out there and try to be as aggressive as I can and just make an impact whatever way that is. Now I kinda know what that is, what I bring to the team. So I’m just trying to be consistent and bringing that every day.”

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