Kentucky basketball is back in the win column at the SEC Tournament.
After one-and-done results in the event the past two years, UK held off Oklahoma thanks to Otega Oweh, who made the game-winning basket in the closing seconds of an 85-84 victory in a second-round matchup Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
It marked Kentucky’s first triumph in the conference tourney since 2022, when it vanquished Vanderbilt, 77-71, in a quarterfinal matchup in Tampa, Florida.
And the quarterfinals are where the Wildcats are now headed. Thanks to Thursday’s win, Kentucky (22-10), the 6-seed in this season’s tournament, set up a date with 3-seed Alabama; that game will tip off at approximately 9:30 p.m. Friday.
Though UK led for more than 34 of the 40-minute game, Oklahoma rarely lost touch. The Wildcats’ largest lead was 12, which came with less than four minutes to play before the Sooners (20-13) once more trimmed the deficit and took the lead with less than a minute to play.
Here are three takeaways from the Wildcats’ gritty win:
Otega Oweh once again tortured his former team. Oweh had a game-high 28 points in the previous meeting between these two squads last month, when UK escaped with an 83-82 victory in Norman, Oklahoma. Included in that scoring outburst: the Wildcats’ final 18 points of the game, as well as the go-ahead basket in the waning moments.
He wasn’t quite as dominant Thursday.
But he didn’t have to be.
Not when he had Koby Brea and Andrew Carr on his side.
Brea, the sharpshooting New York native, had 22 points, knocking down 75% (8 for 12) of his field-goal attempts. He was accurate as ever beyond the 3-point arc, too, making four of the seven triples he hoisted.
Carr finished with 11 points, but more importantly, also pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
Oh, and Oweh’s final line?
The junior guard had 27 points (a team high, one point shy of Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears for top honor Thursday) to go along with four rebounds and five assists. Not only was the assist total a game high but it also was the most he’s had in 92 appearances as a collegian.
Freshman Trent Noah finds way to contribute without scoring
Trent Noah has been defined by his willingness to enter games and immediately take the first shot he’s presented, no matter how far away from the basket he might be or how much time remains on the shot clock.
He didn’t have one of his better nights in the scoring department Thursday, though, as he had only four points. Where he buttered his bread on this night — and made the biggest difference in the outcome — was on the boards. A freshman forward from Harlan County, Noah grabbed six rebounds, the second-best tally for the Wildcats (following the aforementioned Carr) in Thursday’s win.
The six rebounds matched Noah’s career high; he had that same number in UK’s road loss to Texas on Feb. 15.
Cats overcome loss of leader Lamont Butler
In the middle of the first half, Lamont Butler, UK’s starting point guard, walked to the locker room. He did not play another minute Thursday.
The culprit: the bothersome left shoulder injury he’s battled for more than a month.
Yet as the Wildcats have done so often this season, their resilience came to the fore, winning despite the absence of their best 1-on-1 defender and arguably the most valuable vocal leader on the team.
