Basketball ***** Postgame Notes: UK 85, Oklahoma 84

[Jeff Drummond]

KENTUCKY MEN’S BASKETBALL POSTGAME NOTES
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT | BRIDGESTONE ARENA | NASHVILLE, TENN.
MARCH 13, 2025
ATTENDANCE: 16,347

FINAL SCORE: No. 15/19 Kentucky 85, Oklahoma 84

Team Records and Series Notes

• Kentucky has won three in a row and is now 22-10 overall, while Oklahoma is now 20-13.
  • UK leads the series 5-0 with tonight being the first meeting in the SEC Tournament.
• Mark Pope is 209-118 as head coach, including 22-10 at Kentucky.
• Next for Kentucky: the Wildcats advance to the SEC quarterfinals vs. Alabama on Friday at 9:30 p.m. ET (8:30 p.m. in Nashville). The Crimson Tide swept the games this season, 102-97 in Lexington on Jan. 18 and 96-83 in Tuscaloosa on Feb. 22.

Kentucky in the SEC Tournament

• Kentucky is now 136-30 all-time in the SEC Tournament.
  • UK is 22-6 in SECT games played in Nashville, including 19-6 in the current arena.
• UK is 1-1 in the second round of the tourney.

Team Notes

• Tonight’s win gives Kentucky its first three-game win streak of the season vs. SEC opponents.
• Kentucky shot 51.7 percent from the field, 31 of 60. The Wildcats are 15-1 this season when making at least 50 percent of their shots.
• Kentucky won the rebounding, 36-28. The Wildcats are 15-4 this season when outrebounding the opponent.
• With Otega Oweh reaching 1,000 career points tonight, he is the eighth current Wildcat to eclipse the millennium mark in his career – also Ansley Almonor, Koby Brea, Lamont Butler, Andrew Carr, Kerr Kriisa, Jaxson Robinson and Amari Williams.
  • Kentucky is the only team in the country with eight 1,000-point scorers on the roster.

Player Notes

• Otega Oweh led the Wildcats with 27 points, adding four rebounds, along with team highs with five assists and three steals.
  • The two highest scoring games of his career have come in the last two weeks vs. Oklahoma, including 28 in Norman on Feb. 26.
  • Oweh scored the game-winning basket in the closing seconds of each game, both of which were one-point wins.
  • He has 10 games with at least 20 points this season, including six of the last eight, and all three games in the current win streak.
  • Oweh surpassed 1,000 career points tonight and how has 1,026 as a collegian.
  • He also had three steals, his third straight game with three thefts.
• Koby Brea finished with 22 points, one shy of his career best set earlier this season vs. Florida.
• Andrew Carr tallied 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
• Lamont Butler played exited the game with 9:35 remaining in the first half. He did not return, finishing with two points and three assists in eight minutes of action.

In the First Half

• Kentucky’s starters were Lamont Butler, Koby Brea, Otega Oweh, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams for the fourth-consecutive game.
• First substitution was Brandon Garrison at 16:42.
• Kentucky scored on its first three possessions, capped by 3-pointers from Oweh and Carr, for an 8-0 lead and Oklahoma called timeout at 18:05.
  • UK eventually scored on its first five possessions for a 12-3 advantage, its largest of the half.
• Trailing 25-18, Oklahoma went on a 9-0 run and took its first lead, coaxing a UK timeout at 4:41.
• The teams played evenly the rest of the way and UK held a 40-38 lead at halftime.
  • Brea and Oweh led UK with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
  • UK is now 19-1 on the year when leading at the half.

In the Second Half

• Kentucky began the second half with Collin Chandler, Brea, Oweh, Carr and Williams.
• Nursing a 66-65 lead, Kentucky called timeout with 6:39 left. On the next four possessions in a two-minute span, UK got 3-pointers from Oweh and Brea, a basket-and-one from Oweh, and a dunk by Garrison and suddenly the Wildcats led 77-65, their largest lead of the game.
• Kentucky led 80-70 with 1:26 remaining but Oklahoma stormed back to take an 84-83 lead with 5.6 seconds remaining.
• Oweh took the inbounds pass and drove the length of the court for the game-winning layup with 0.5 left on the clock.

 

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[Rockford]

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