Otega Oweh, Oklahomans step up for Kentucky in 'must-win' over Sooners -- an instant classic

You can’t convince me those wins aren’t just a little sweeter than others. Blowouts are fun, obviously, and you always love winning by a few possessions — comfortable enough to not sweat the result at the end. Give me the victories you have no business pulling off, though, the ones that feel impossible in real time and then even after the final buzzer whether you have more points than the other team or not. Something had to have gone wrong, just as everything did up to that point, right? Doug Shows’ sprint to the monitor felt like that moment, the catch we were all waiting for to rip yet another one out of our hands. Right when you think you’ve escaped, a technical foul or something similarly ridiculous to put Oklahoma at the line with triple zeroes on the clock and a chance to throw a wrench into Kentucky’s celebratory plans.

Maybe in another universe. In this one, the victory was confirmed and the Wildcats survived after getting the Sooners’ best shot. It was a game that saw OU hit as many second-half 3-pointers as UK hit in the entire game, one where Jalon Moore and Jeremiah Fears — Oklahoma’s top scorers — exceeded their season averages to combine for 38 points. How often do you see a team convert on nine straight field goal attempts and go 11-13 overall in a ten-minute stretch? The rim was enormous for the Sooners as the Wildcats couldn’t come up with a stop to save their lives.

Then you have the first-half foul trouble, four players picking up two with 11 fouls called in total. Lamont Butler, the only guy who could provide some defensive pushback for extended stretches, fouled out with 4:16 to go and Kentucky down two. That one felt like a killer. Factor in Jaxson Robinson re-aggravating his wrist and playing zero second-half minutes, plus Andrew Carr limited to six first-half minutes after re-aggravating his back. Don’t even get me started on Amari Williams‘ early scare, a terrible flop by Oklahoma’s Mohamed Wague leaving the star center holding his ankle in clear pain before gingerly walking it off on the sideline. Everything seemed to be working against the Wildcats in Norman, destined for a loss.

Otega Oweh had other plans, however. My goodness, what a one-man wrecking crew that guy was in a game he entered as the main talking point. Coming off his worst game as a Wildcat that saw his beloved double-digit scoring streak come to an end, the junior guard was returning to the place he got his start in college basketball. He was booed during player introductions, then every single touch throughout the game before Oklahoma fans started a chant calling him a traitor. The moment felt a little big for Oweh at the halfway point, finishing with just five points on 2-7 shooting with five boards and two turnovers in 14 first-half minutes. Like the Alabama loss, he was pressing, struggling to finish at the rim and forcing drives with tunnel vision. It’s like the weight of his return to the Lloyd Noble Center got to him, desperate to have a rebound performance against the fans who once adored him in Norman, getting back to double figures on his mind.

Then came an all-time second half performance, one that will be stored as a core memory for many BBN faithfuls — and certainly Oweh personally. He would go for 23 points on 10-14 shooting after intermission en route to a career-high 28 points, no bucket bigger or more important than his game-winning off-balanced runner with 6.1 seconds to go. It was the cherry on top of a run that saw the 6-4 guard score 21 of Kentucky’s final 23 points including a ridiculous 18 straight to close out the game, no other player scoring under the nine-minute mark. With Oklahoma on the run looking for a response at the buzzer on the other end, Oweh swatted it out of Fears’ hands to close out the victory.

Also there for the block? Brandon Garrison, a fitting addition to the sequence considering he put forth his best all-around performance in blue and white, finishing with 12 points on 5-8 shooting while adding four rebounds, three blocks and three steals in 27 minutes. Oh, and he was the only player on the roster with multiple 3-pointers made in the win, just to stress how crazy the game was from start to finish. With Williams dealing with both a twisted ankle and foul trouble, his backup stepped up to provide the best non-Oweh sequences of the win. Returning home to the Sooner State, the Oklahoma City native played with a scrappy edge that nearly earned him both a technical after the buzzer and a beer can to the head going back to the locker room, but man, there was a whole lot to love about Garrison’s energy, defensive switchability and timely shot-making.

Just be careful, please.

Someone threw a beer can at Kentucky players as they left the court. Nearly hit Brandon Garrison in the head. pic.twitter.com/OH14N5wPDk

— Adam Stratton (@AdamStrattonKSR) February 27, 2025

Sticking to the theme of players with Oklahoma ties stepping up in Norman, Robinson also deserves a lot of credit for fighting through that wrist injury as long as he did in the first half, giving the Wildcats 12 good minutes before he was forced out the rest of the way after the break. He finished with seven points on 3-7 shooting while adding two steals and an assist, unable to find his 3-point range (1-5 3PT) but still contributing in other ways as long as he could. Mark Pope said his wrist didn’t respond well at halftime, and after initially being listed as questionable coming out of the break, he threw on his warmups and got an ice wrap to unofficially call it a day. That’s something that will obviously be monitored and discussed ad nauseam in the coming days, but for now, we’ll appreciate his ability to work through the pain and produce in his highly anticipated homecoming battle in front of his closest friends and family as a native of Ada, OK.

Much of the talk entering this one was about Oklahoma’s desperation as the Sooners fight to stay above that bubble line, likely one statement ranked win over Kentucky separating them from a Selection Sunday lock. Porter Moser is fighting for his job, too, which brings a new level of urgency to the conversation. For the Wildcats, they’re already in with some of the best wins in college basketball while battling in the toughest league potentially in the sport’s history. The focus there with four games left in the regular season? Get healthy and don’t drown. When you found out Robinson and Butler were ready to give it a go — even at less than 100 percent — the second part of that became priority No. 1 in Norman.

If you’re going to sacrifice extended rest before postseason play for your second- and third-leading scorers, you have to find a way. It doesn’t have to be pretty, just have more points than the opponent at the final buzzer (or whenever Doug Shows decides it’s time for everybody to go home). That’s where the desperation factor on Kentucky’s side came in, finding a way even when the odds are stacked against you and the opponent builds confidence.

Don’t just punt on the regular season, put yourself in position to earn a bye in the SEC Tournament and solidify a top-three seed in the Big Dance. Close out this season with a bang and earn some momentum at the right time. That’s what this game meant to the Wildcats and it showed when it mattered most.

“I’m just glad we got the win,” Oweh said after the game. “It was a must-win for us, and we got that.”