Otega Oweh was a step slow to start the season. Now, he’s feeling like himself
Otega Oweh came up with five steals in Kentucky’s 92-68 victory over Mississippi State on Saturday night.
Four of those steals led directly to baskets for Oweh himself. The other one perfectly summed up UK’s most complete performance of the basketball season so far.
On that one, Oweh — listed at 6 feet 4 — switched onto 6-9 forward Achor Achor and followed him into the post. Achor battled Oweh for position, an entry pass came his way, and the UK senior fought around him for the steal.
As soon as Oweh got the ball, the other four Wildcats sprinted the other way. Oweh dribbled up the court and found Collin Chandler leading the charge on the far right side. Chandler took one dribble and rocketed a chest pass to 6-10 forward Brandon Garrison, who was streaking down the middle of the floor. Garrison caught the ball in stride and turned it into a two-handed slam in one motion.
The dunk gave Kentucky a 67-58 lead with a little more than 10 minutes left. It was UK’s biggest advantage of the night, and the play itself had Rupp Arena in a frenzy. Mississippi State coach Chris Jans called a timeout. All the Cats on the court were celebrating, none of them more boisterous than Chandler, who was jumping up and down in the backcourt when Oweh ran over, slapped him five and stood in front of Chandler clapping his hands.
A one-man standing ovation for a job well done.
“He’s a great player,” Jans said afterward of Oweh, the player responsible for the transition opportunity. “I think he was (SEC) preseason player of the year, if I’m not mistaken. He got it (done) on the court tonight.”
Jans was not mistaken. Oweh was indeed the SEC preseason player of the year. But when the season actually began, he wasn’t playing like it. Not long ago, that transition opportunity wouldn’t have happened. Oweh was a step slow. His teammates were struggling to grasp the urgency of getting out in transition.
On Saturday night, it all came together. Oweh’s hope is that it’s here to stay.
“We just had to really focus on making plays for teammates. ‘Everyone eats.’ I feel like, when everyone eats, everyone does well, that’s going to catapult us to a different level,” Oweh said. “So I think going into the game, we were just really focused on making plays for teammates, and — on top of that — having high intensity on defense.”
He knows a lot of that starts with him. And, until recently, he hasn’t been himself.
With all of UK’s injury woes this season — Jayden Quaintance’s attempt to come back from knee surgery, Jaland Lowe’s ongoing shoulder issues, Mouhamed Dioubate missing five games with a high ankle sprain — it’s often forgotten that Oweh spent a good deal of time on the sidelines, too.
His injury happened when fewer folks were paying attention. Oweh finished UK’s summer practice window in a walking boot — turf toe was the culprit — and he was still not cleared for five-on-five drills when the Wildcats’ preseason preparation began in the fall.
On the whole, he was out for about two months. He was still putting in work during that time — UK’s own shot-tracking system said no Wildcat put up more attempts on his own in the month of September — but one of the biggest keys to Oweh’s game comes from his mobility, and there wasn’t much he could do in that area while recovering from a serious foot injury.
When the games began, it was apparent to anyone who watched the Wildcats that Oweh did not have that burst that was so often on display last season. Behind the scenes, those who saw him in practice every day knew he wasn’t yet close to 100%.
The past few games, he’s looked like a different player.
“It was just me getting my footing back,” Oweh said Saturday night. “The more I’m out there, I feel like I’m going to get better every single game. So, just me getting my footing back. And, on top of that, being super intentional every single game, knowing what I should do and knowing what’s going to help this team get better.”
How much did that foot injury take out of him?
“It took a good amount,” he acknowledged. “You know, it was my foot. So, you know, you do a lot with your feet in basketball, especially your toes. So (I lost) just a little bit of the explosiveness. But I’m glad it happened when it did. I’m glad I didn’t miss games.”
Oweh, Kentucky turning a corner?
UK’s star player didn’t get much benefit of the doubt in those early games.
The Cats lost at Louisville in week two and were blown out by Michigan State seven days after that. The game at the Yum Center was, according to the analytics, one of Oweh’s worst in a Kentucky uniform. The showing against the Spartans wasn’t a whole lot better.
As fan angst grew, Oweh — as the face of the team — became a lightning rod for criticism. “I’ll get there,” he told those behind the scenes who had seen him struggle.
In his first five games, he had just three total steals and never scored more than 15 points. Slowly, starting in early December, Oweh began to look like himself. Since UK came back from its holiday break, he’s taken it up another notch or two.
The Cats didn’t get the team result they wanted in their first two SEC games — a lopsided loss at Alabama and a late collapse to Missouri at home — but it’s difficult to pin those defeats on Oweh, who had two of his best games of the season on those days.
On Saturday night, he tied a season high with 22 points — and dished out five assists — to go with those five steals. He’s now scored at least 20 points in all three SEC games going into a road matchup with LSU on Wednesday night, just the second time as a Wildcat that he’s scored 20-plus in three consecutive games.
He also had 20 points in the Cats’ win over St. John’s on Dec. 20, making it four out of five with that many in the scoring column. The outlier came against Bellarmine on Dec. 23, when Oweh had 10 points, eight rebounds and a career-high 10 assists in a 99-85 win.
He had four steals in the loss to Missouri — he’s averaging 2.7 steals over his last 11 games — and those defensive plays against the Tigers helped UK get out in transition, which is where coach Mark Pope wants them to be. The Cats outscored Mizzou 24-7 on fast-break points.
Oweh used the word “debacle” to describe the ending of that one, when the Tigers went on a 15-2 run in the final four and a half minutes to escape with a win and leave some in the Rupp crowd booing their own team at the buzzer.
“But I took some good stuff from that game, in terms of our offense and how connected we’ve been,” he said. “Our ball movement has been really good. We’ve just got to keep building on that.”
With 21 assists the next time out against Mississippi State, the Cats built on it, and, this time, they were rewarded with a lopsided victory of their own.
Pope has been saying all season that Kentucky’s offensive woes could turn around with more intensity on defense, which could lead to the kind of transition opportunities the Cats got Saturday night. They beat the Bulldogs 19-6 in fast-break points. Pope has also said all season that Oweh’s own game — and, by extension, perhaps UK’s overall outlook — starts with his defense.
He certainly delivered Saturday, explaining how after the 24-point win.
“They were just really eager on getting their guards the ball,” he said. “So I feel like a lot of times they weren’t really looking at the passing lane and their bigs. They were really just trying to get the guards the ball. So I was just being aggressive, trying to jump the lanes.
“That’s what I do best.”
He did it with aplomb in this game. Four of his steals Saturday came in the second half against the Bulldogs, which, technically, was the first 20 minutes of the second half of this season. Perhaps a new beginning for a team in desperate need of a turnaround?
In the Missouri loss, UK’s offensive attack largely stalled once the pace slowed into a halfcourt game. That didn’t happen against Mississippi State, with the Cats moving and cutting and passing with intent even when they didn’t score in transition.
They did that without Lowe — their only true point guard — out after he injured his right shoulder again early in the first half. Oweh lamented that loss after the game, but he said this team is more than capable of getting out in transition even without their quickest and shiftiest playmaker.
“We have so much talent that everyone wants to come get the ball and make a play,” he said. “But that’s the good thing about it: we don’t have one designated guy that could just stop and get the ball. Everyone could go run. You could pass to anyone, and we could advance it. So I think we’re still figuring that out. But, the past couple of games, we’re getting better with that.”
The Missouri game ended horribly. The Mississippi State game started out just as bad, with the Bulldogs building an 18-6 lead and the boobirds in the Rupp stands making another appearance.
By the end of the night, however, Rupp was rocking. One of the loudest moments came in a two-possession sequence down the stretch. First, Oweh jumped a passing lane, stole the ball and ended up swinging on the rim after a fast-break dunk. Next trip down the court, he stepped into a 3-pointer at the top of the key and buried it to give Kentucky its first double-digit lead.
Oweh celebrated on the court. The fans celebrated in the stands. A moment of catharsis for all.
Kentucky’s star player acknowledged hearing the boos over the past month or so. He said it didn’t bother him, and he implied that he understood the anger. “We don’t want to put the fans in that situation.”
When Oweh checked out with 1:41 on the clock and the Cats up 23 on Saturday night, he was met with a rousing ovation from the home crowd. However he really felt about those boos, it’s undeniable that the alternative sounds a whole lot better.
“I feel like BBN and Rupp has just been waiting to cheer for something positive,” Oweh said. “So, I’m just glad that we did that tonight.”
This story was originally published January 12, 2026 at 6:00 AM.
