Whatever Otega Oweh has been saying to teammates and officials has been working well for him. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Kentucky senior guard Otega Oweh hauled in his second Southeastern Conference Co-Player of the Week honor after helping the Cats to a 2-0 week with wins over Oklahoma and No. 25 Tennessee. Oweh shares the award with Alabama’s Labaron Philon Jr.
Oweh averaged 22.5 points per game on an efficient 60.7% field-goal clip, while adding 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. He has tallied 20 or more points in nine of 11 SEC games, including both this week. He had a season-high-tying 24 against the Sooners and paced the Cats with 21 points in the upset of the Volunteers.
The Newark, New Jersey, native has topped double-digits in all 24 games for the Wildcats this season. He is averaging 20.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game against league foes as the Wildcats sit just 0.5 games behind Florida for first place in the league standings.
With UK trailing by one point in the final minute of the game against Tennessee, Oweh drove baseline and had three players converge on him. Instead of forcing a shot – he found Collin Chandler on the wing for a 3-point shot and a lead the Cats would not relinquish – the biggest assist of the game.
Kentucky trailed by 14 points against the Volunteers at halftime – the rally at the break was the largest halftime deficit ever overcome at Rupp Arena for the Cats. The previous record was overcoming a 12-point deficit vs. Arkansas on Jan. 29, 2006. It marked the fifth double-digit come-from-behind win this season for Kentucky – including two against the Volunteers.
He is just five points shy of becoming a UK 1,000-point scorer and becoming just the fifth transfer in program history to achieve the feat.
The Cats return to action on Saturday at Florida. The game is set for a 3 p.m. ET tip and will air on ABC.
