Watch the Tape: Kentucky Outlasts the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman

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watch-the-tape-kentucky-outlasts-the-oklahoma-sooners-in-norman — Alonzo Adams | Imagn Images

Never apologize for winning. There are no style points in college basketball. That is especially true when playing in the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats went on the road and beat a Quad 1 opponent who was fighting to stay on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble. Don’t let the insanity of the SEC schedule cause you to downplay the win. The Oklahoma Sooners are a good team featuring a NBA lottery pick and the road victory gave the ‘Cats their ninth Quad 1 win which is tied for the third most in the country. Kentucky continues to build one of the most impressive resumes in college basketball.

This game will forever be remembered as “The Otega Oweh Game.” Facing his former team, Oweh finished with a career-high 28 points to help lift the Wildcats to victory. However, his performance was even more impressive than that. Oweh scored the final 18 points of the game for Kentucky and was the only Kentucky player to score in the final nine minutes. Brandon Garrison added 12 points and 3 blocked shots off of the bench for the ‘Cats while five other players finished with between 7 and 9 points. It was a team effort once again, but down the stretch it was quite literally all Otega Oweh.

Quad 1 road games are not supposed to be easy. Kentucky got Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson back, but Butler fouled out with 4:16 to play and Robinson did not appear in the second half. Amari Williams rolled his ankle early in the game and also battled foul trouble. It was an all hands on deck approach by Coach Pope as the ‘Cats went 11 deep to secure the victory in Norman. The Wildcats, once again, displayed improved defensive intensity on their way to forcing 15 turnovers. We will discuss the improvement in defensive disruptiveness in this breakdown. Additionally, we will highlight the consistent offensive execution along with Otega Oweh’s late game takeover. Let’s dive on in and take a closer look at Kentucky’s 83-82 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners.

Improved Defensive Disruptiveness

The Kentucky Wildcats have forced 15 turnovers in back-to-back games. Per Bart Torvik, the ‘Cats rank 18th in adjusted defensive efficiency over their last six games. During that span Kentucky has forced 11.8 turnovers per game. In the previous nine Southeastern Conference games, where the Wildcats ranked 209th in adjusted defensive efficiency, they forced just 7.9 turnovers per game. That has not happened by accident. It is pretty clear that there has been a directive from Coach Pope and the staff to be more aggressive on the defensive end of the floor. That was especially true on Wednesday night against the Oklahoma Sooners. The ‘Cats were able to turn 15 turnovers into 16 points which helped them pick up the win in Norman.

This clip perfectly encapsulates Kentucky’s improved defensive intensity. First of all, having Lamont Butler back is huge. His ability to get out and hound #0 Fears beyond the arc without getting smoked off of the dribble makes everyone else’s job easier defensively. Then, you have to give credit to Andrew Carr for a sound closeout and a good job moving his feet to level off the drive by #14 Moore. Finally, the real key to this possession, notice how Amari Williams stays in the paint. #10 Godwin is not a threat to shoot it. So, instead of following him, Williams stays in the paint to help. He made an excellent, aggressive play to be there on the spin move and steal the basketball.

Lamont Butler getting out in the passing lane blew up this Oklahoma Sooners’ possession from the start. Also, the ‘Cats were much more willing to switch on Wednesday evening than they have been much of the season. Brandon Garrison made several excellent defensive plays when switched onto different Oklahoma players. This time Garrison walled up #14 Moore as he drove it left, Koby Brea swiped at him from the perimeter, and Ansley Almonor aggressively stepped up with a championship chest. Kentucky was able to be very aggressive on Moore’s drives because he is a low-assist, high-turnover guy. The additional defensive pressure led to Moore traveling.

Admittedly, #1 Elvis pretty much just loses the basketball here. However, Brandon Garrison’s individual defense when switched onto #0 Fears deserves to be celebrated. That is Kentucky’s backup 5-man switching onto a future lottery pick and one of the best isolation playmakers in the Southeastern Conference. Garrison’s footwork and length completely bottled him up.

This defensive clip will get you a round of applause in the film room. Otega Oweh did a great job of staying with #15 Miles on the initial drive. Koby Brea did a good job of being tight to #2 Goodine beyond the arc. Lamont Butler and Amari Williams handled the middle ballscreen well. Then, Andrew Carr had a perfect closeout against #35 Taylor Jr. As Taylor Jr. drove it baseline, Butler was right there to come take it away from him. All five Wildcats made an impact on this defensive possession.

Lamont Butler was not credited with a steal on Wednesday night. However, his ball pressure absolutely led to several of the Oklahoma Sooners’ 15 turnovers. The duress that #0 Fears was under on the perimeter throughout the game, he played 37 minutes, definitely led to his team-high four turnovers. Here you see Butler all over Fears, Amari Williams pick him up on the drive, and then Otega Oweh scoop up the lost dribble to go tie the game with a dunk. Also, Butler’s ball pressure forced #10 Godwin to come set this ballscreen much higher which neutralized his threat on the roll. That allowed Williams to step up more aggressively to take Fears.

Continued Offensive Execution

This is a recurring segment in essentially every “Watch the Tape” breakdown. Kentucky’s offense has taken a bit of a step back during their recent defensive surge, it ranks 28th in adjusted offensive efficiency per Bart Torvik over the last six games, but it still is good enough to win games. The Wildcats played their 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th men a combined 36 points last night in their win over the Oklahoma Sooners. Lamont Butler and Jaxson Robinson returned, but played just 20 minutes and 12 minutes respectively. However, despite all of that, the ‘Cats still found a way to score 83 points and secure the Quad 1 road win in Norman. The film room once again shined a light on Kentucky’s execution and brilliant play calling by Coach Pope. Let’s take a look.

Koby Brea did not have his best shooting performance of the season. He finished just 1-6 from beyond the arc. However, Brea has a constant impact on Kentucky’s offense whether his shots are falling or not. Brandon Garrison deserves a lot of credit for how good he is on the rim run, but these two points wouldn’t have been possible without Brea. His “shooting gravity” pulled the Oklahoma Sooners’ defender out to the wing as opposed to protecting the basket. Perfect pass by Jaxson Robinson to thread the needle.

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Here is another example of the impact of shooting gravity. You also see how Kentucky attempted to burn off the Oklahoma Sooners’ pressure defense by back cutting. The ‘Cats ripped off three back cuts here and then Jaxson Robinson tight curled the handoff for a layup. The shooting threat of Robinson, Ansley Almonor, and Koby Brea all helped create the space necessary for this layup.

Lamont Butler’s playmaking ability was sorely missed. Kentucky was, impressively, able to hold serve without him, but he simply makes everything easier offensively. His ability to get downhill in one-on-one situations, draw help, and then make plays for others is something that no one else on this team, aside from Kerr Kriisa, really possesses. Also, credit to Brandon Garrison for flipping the ballscreen angle to set it downhill. He has such a knack for setting ballscreens perfectly. Great play by Butler to find an open Andrew Carr in the corner for an open catch-and-shoot three.

Coach Pope has added this “Peja Action” counter over the last couple of games. They ran it early on against Alabama with Amari Williams driving and kicking back out to Koby Brea for a three-pointer. However, this time, it was Otega Oweh who got open on the backscreen. A traditional Peja Action involves a player, like Koby Brea, setting a backscreen and then receiving a handoff. This counter though has Brea setting a backscreen and then a ballscreen for Williams. It is a really smart, creative wrinkle to utilize the playmaking ability of Williams at the 5-spot. Once again, it was Brea’s shooting gravity that got Oweh open at the rim. Two Oklahoma Sooners’ defenders went with Brea, none went with Oweh, and Williams found him for a go-ahead layup.

“The Otega Oweh Game”

An 83-82 win over the Oklahoma Sooners on February 26th isn’t something that immediately seems like it will live on forever. However, Otega Oweh’s career-high scoring output, against his former school, will be remembered for a long time by Big Blue Nation. Not only did Oweh go off for 28 points, but he scored the Wildcats’ final 18 points and was the only ‘Cat to score in the final nine minutes. It was a truly sensational individual performance to help bring the Quad 1 victory back to Lexington. Here are a handful of Oweh’s best plays from down the stretch as he took the game over at the Lloyd Noble Center.

Otega Oweh was just 2-7 from the field in the first half. All four of his turnovers came in the first 30 minutes of the game. So often, Oweh is out of control when driving to the basket. He puts his head down and attacks the rim, but doesn’t have the finesse to finish or the playmaking chops to find open teammates. However, something clicked down the stretch against the Oklahoma Sooners. This clip is a perfect example of Oweh slowing down and playing with some pace. Oweh attacked the closeout, changed speed, turned his drive into a bit of a post move, and got himself to the SEC logo to finish. Moves like this can be very effective for him.

Here is Otega Oweh scoring once again on what amounts to a post move. The quick drop step got him by #2 Goodine and then Oweh elevated to dunk it while drawing the foul. His athleticism really popped down the stretch.

Part of being a great coach is not over-coaching. Coach Pope did a great job down the stretch of simply sticking with what was working. Put Otega Oweh in a position to make a play one-on-one and otherwise stay the heck out of the way. Oweh seems to be even more comfortable in the intermediate range at times than he is at the rim. He has excellent touch on this floaters and little pull-ups in the paint. Very tough shot here to give Kentucky a two point lead with two minutes remaining.

Quite frankly, this was somewhat of a reversion to the “out-of-control” Otega Oweh that we saw in the first half. However, in this situation, his sheer athleticism to get into the paint and put the ball up on the rim was very much welcomed. Nobody else in the game for Kentucky could have gotten a better look. Luckily, this one happened to go in. Really athletic finish to cap off one of the greatest individual runs in Kentucky Basketball history.