Koby Brea says no-look lob to Otega Oweh was 'one of the top plays of my career'

The score was 68-62 with 1:41 left on the clock, No. 15 Kentucky in good, but not great shape to pull off the upset win over No. 5 Tennessee. The Volunteers hadn’t shot it well, but they were a couple of stops and buckets away from jumping right back in it, plenty of time remaining to pull it off.

Trent Noah secures the rebound off the Igor Milicic miss and gets the ball to Amari Williams, who gets it to Koby Brea — who had just drilled a 3-pointer to put the Cats up six a few seconds earlier. He brings it past mid court, drives left from the wing to the elbow and sees Otega Oweh cutting baseline. Coming off a career-high six assists against South Carolina, Brea continued his playmaking brilliance with the no-look lob to Oweh, who slammed it home to put Kentucky up by eight with 1:20 to go.

With all due respect to Tennessee or Rick Barnes, there was nothing the Volunteers could do at that point to kill Kentucky’s momentum. Rupp Arena absolutely exploded, the roof caving in as Big Blue Nation celebrated the season sweep in the rivalry that was just seconds away. UT called timeout and the rest was history, UK pulling away with the 11-point victory to give the Wildcats a program-record seven wins against top-15 competition.

In a night of big moments, none were bigger than Brea’s lob to Oweh.

.@kobybrea ➡️ @OtegaOweh just sent @Rupp_Arena into a FRENZY 🙀

📺 – ESPN pic.twitter.com/ZIdXGZDoBP

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) February 12, 2025

What was it like for Brea, who finished with 11 points on 4-9 shooting and 3-6 from three while adding two assists, two steals and a rebound in 33 minutes? He calls that dime one of the biggest plays of his entire career.

Not any of his big shots, that single alley-oop lob to bring the house down.

“That was probably one of the top plays of my career, honestly,” Brea said. “Just talking to O about it, he cut at the perfect time. Once I saw him move, I was like ‘oh that’s perfect.’ It was a great feeling, man. Just to have that kind of play in a big game like that? To do it at home, that made it even more special. That was a good feeling.”

OH MY GOODNESS pic.twitter.com/eCsWeOfeb5

— KentuckyCards (@KentuckyCards) February 12, 2025

The assist was flashy and the ultimate dagger to close things out, but the Cats aren’t in position to do it without Brea’s step back three from the top of the key to put the good guys up by six with 2:08 to go. He hit another big one just a few minutes before to turn a two-point Tennessee lead into a one-point Kentucky lead with 4:21 on the clock.

Where did those come from?

“It wasn’t much thinking going on, it was just playing the game and understanding the situation we were in, what we needed,” Brea said. “I have confidence in myself and my teammates have confidence in me too that I can take those shots and make them.”

Those shots are why you come to a place like Kentucky. That’s what you dream about as a kid, stepping up on college basketball’s biggest and brightest stage against the best of the best.

“It felt good. Just to hit shots like that in such big moments in such a big game, it’s stuff you dream of as a little kid,” Brea said. “It made me feel really good and it goes to show all of the work I’ve put in and how confident I am in that moment, how confident my team is in me in that moment.

“They gave me the ball and spread it out, knowing I was going to go to work. That meant a lot.”

That sequence is one BBN is going to remember for a long, long time.