Otega Oweh (Vicky Graff Photo)
In his final Kentucky game, senior Otega Oweh had 18 points, eight rebounds and two steals in the lopsided NCAA Tournament loss to Iowa State in St. Louis.
That meant he scored in 35 of 36 games this season, including his spectacular 35-point performance and dramatic half-court shot in Friday’s overtime win over Santa Clara in the NCAA Tournament first round.
He had 1,255 points in two seasons after transferring from Oklahoma and led UK in scoring both seasons. He scored more points than any UK player ever had in his first two seasons at Kentucky.
“I want to say thank you to BBN for the past two years, it’s been amazing. Thank you coach (Mark) Pope for bringing me in,” Oweh said in the postgame press conference. “We fell short this year, but I’m sure the guys next year are going to come and remember this and get the job done, because playing here at Kentucky, that’s what the fans and everyone deserves is to win.
“Obviously I’m disappointed that we didn’t get it done this year, but these past two years have been amazing, life changing. I’m just thankful for my teammates that I played with last year, this year. I’ll definitely never forget it for sure.”
Oweh said the players were focused on “trying to stack some positive energy” going into postseason play and did win two SEC Tournament games and one in NCAA play.
“We wished we could win every single game, but that’s not how basketball works every time,” Oweh said. “For us, we were really just focused on getting better every single game, trying to start off the games better, and I feel like we did a good job of that actually towards the end of the conference and even going into the Tournament.
“We just didn’t do a good job of doing it for a full 40, but you live and you learn. I feel like the group next year obviously is going to do a good job of responding and remembering this moment and just building off of that.”
Pope said Oweh had “one of the epic two-year careers in the history of Kentucky basketball” that included consistent double-figure scoring and game-winning shots and plays.
“Otega Oweh, not only put incredible performances on the court that BBN will remember forever, but he also grew as a man and grew as a leader in his own way,” Pope said.
