Otega Oweh shined on both offense and defense against St. John's. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky senior Otega Oweh was selected as the Southeastern Conference Co-Player of the Week, it was announced by the league office on Monday. Oweh shares the award, the first weekly honor for UK this season, with Tennessee’s Ja’Kobi Gillespie.
Oweh scored a game-high 20 points as the Wildcats picked up their first win over an Associated Press Top-25 opponent, defeating No. 22 St. John’s, 78-66, in the CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta Saturday.
UK’s star guard also contributed five rebounds and three steals in the winning effort, marking his seventh-consecutive game with multiple steals, the longest streak of his college career.
Oweh’s defensive prowess was paramount in holding the Red Storm to a season-low 33.3 percent field-goal clip, while his 20-point effort was his second outing reaching the 20-point threshold this season. He also made 8-of-9 free throws in the contest and is shooting a career-best 81.5 percent from the charity stripe thus far.
Against St. John’s, Kentucky overcame a seven-point halftime deficit for the second-consecutive game. It marked the first time in program history that the Wildcats have won consecutive games when trailing by seven or more at the break.
The Newark, N.J. native has scored in double figures in all 12 of Kentucky’s games this year and 45 of 48 games as a Wildcat overall.
Oweh leads the team in scoring at 14.5 points per game. He also boasts a team-high 21 steals on the year.
7 Responses
We finally got our shooting eye back hitting over 50%, but we also let Bellarmine shoot 50% from the arc and score 85 points! That won't win at Bama.
Correction: Bellarmine shot 52% from the field and 37% from the arc, but still scored 85 points…the most they have scored in all but 1 of their 6 losses; they scored 86 against Wofford. Williams, Dioubate, Aberdeen, and Johnson were the heroes of the game…not JQ.
The Cats shot lights out again against a inferior foe. I would bet they don't shoot that good in any SEC game. JQ Will be a difference maker going forward. It would nice to be able to count on Lowe.
But nice to see shots going in no matter who it is against Jimmy
14 point spread against the likes of Bellermine is not impressive whatsoever. I 100% understand these kids guys can play basketball as well but cmon.
Grant I have seen a lot of preholiday games where UK defense was not that intense against inferior opponent. It just happens to both good and bad UK teams
Bama will take a minimum of 40 threes against us; can we disrupt their rhythm? Will JQ, Dioubate, and Moreno be able to control the paint? We have to dominate the boards and that means guards being positioned for long rebounds. Will we have the guts to take 30 threes and be confident in making them? Or will we play hero ball and drive to the basket with wild shots? I honestly don't know and don't think Pope knows either.