Did Mark Pope expect Otega Oweh to be Kentucky's most consistent scorer? 'No. I did not.'

We’re now 22 games into Kentucky’s 2024-25 season, and Otega Oweh has still scored at least 10 points in every single one of them. He’s knocking on the door of a streak that hasn’t been done at this program since a guy named Malik Monk did it 30 straight times to begin the 2016-17 campaign.

Not many in the fan base expected Oweh to step in right away and become Kentucky’s most consistent scorer and all-around producer. He’s “only” a junior on a roster littered with seniors and fifth-year graduates. The 6-foot-5 guard was solid in his two years at Oklahoma, taking a significant leap from his freshman to sophomore seasons. But what we’ve seen so far is an All-SEC performer.

Hell, not even head coach Mark Pope expected this.

“No. I did not,” Pope said Thursday when asked if he thought Oweh would play this well. “That’s why this is so great. I’m so proud of him, right? To be honest with you, before the season I would have — one of my curiosities about him was what would his consistency feel like?“

Well, Coach, it feels like a guy who leads the team in scoring at 16 points per outing this season. Oweh’s been so consistent that (most of) his numbers haven’t fallen off since SEC play began. He was averaging 15.9 points per game against nonconference opponents. He’s right at 16 per game through nine SEC contests while shooting 47.2 percent from the field. Oweh is the only player in the entire league who has recorded double-figures every single game in 2024-25.

“The only one. He’s the only one right now,” Pope said. “And that’s pretty special and that’s a real credit to him. It’s a credit to him and how he’s built and what he’s made of. He is putting together a really extraordinary season and also doing it with some weirdness happening around him, right? He’s been really special. I’m proud of him and he’s obviously a massive part of our team in this league and college basketball.”

But it’s not just scoring that makes Oweh so impactful. He’s grabbing 5.9 rebounds in 31.2 minutes per SEC game. His playmaking is leaps and bounds better than it was at Oklahoma. Kentucky’s team defense might not be any good right now, but it would be much worse without Oweh on the floor.

“I’m really proud of Otega,” Pope said during his radio call-in show Wednesday night. “He is taking a colossal, massive, incredible jump in his game from a year ago and then through the course of this season… I’m asking so much out of him right now. He’s digging deep into his emotional reservoir to carry the torch for us and his competitive nature has been at an absolute elite level for where his default is. I think he’s been spectacular.

“We’re asking him to get downhill a ton, we’re asking him to take on the toughest defensive assignment every night, we’re asking him to increasingly be a playmaker. And certainly he has shot the ball well this season and I think for him, right now, he’s really trying to make plays for his teammates and to be aggressive to the rim.”

It’s not all perfect with Oweh’s game. His three-point shooting has dipped significantly since the start of SEC play. When things begin to go south for the Wildcats, he can turn into an isolation-heavy player. Those are a bit nit-picky, though. You never have to worry if Otega Oweh will show up on any given night.

Now let’s see if he can break Monk’s streak.

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