If not for this Wildcat’s awareness, Otega Oweh’s shot would’ve never happened
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Aberdeen quickly grabbed and threw the ball to prevent Santa Clara’s timeout.
- Oweh caught Aberdeen’s lead pass and hit a 40-foot buzzer-beater to tie.
- Timing rules and Aberdeen’s awareness, not officiating, decided the play.
It looked like Kentucky’s season was over.
As soon as Allen Graves hit that 3-pointer to give Santa Clara a 73-70 lead with 2.4 seconds on the Enterprise Center clock Friday afternoon, the Cats looked cooked. Only a March Madness miracle could save them at that point.
If Kentucky’s season was over, it meant Denzel Aberdeen’s college basketball career was finished, too.
The Cats got their miracle, of course, and while Otega Oweh was the talk of the tournament in the immediate aftermath of his 40-foot buzzer-beater to force overtime, none of it would have happened if not for the awareness Aberdeen showed in crunch time.
Kentucky finished off Santa Clara for an 89-84 victory to advance and play Iowa State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon. On Saturday, Aberdeen sat at his locker in St. Louis and shared his side of Oweh’s shot with the Herald-Leader.
It started with his reaction to Graves’ 3-pointer to give the Broncos the lead.
“So once the shot went through the basket, I knew that one of their coaches was probably gonna try to call timeout,” Aberdeen said. “And I saw O had a little advantage, so I tried to throw it ahead of O, so he could get at least a couple dribbles in him to get a shot off. And that’s exactly what he did. It was a big-time shot.”
Immediately after the game, Santa Clara coach Herb Sendek explained that he did indeed try to call a timeout, clearly irked that none of the officials on the court had granted it. Sendek, who had three timeouts remaining, said calling one to get his defense set up would be a “likely response” in that situation.
“Which I tried to do, and I was successful in doing, other than it wasn’t acknowledged or recognized,” he said. “And so that’s what happened.”
But Aberdeen’s quick action — not a refusal by the refs — is what prevented that timeout from being granted.
Sendek stood with his arms crossed as Graves’ shot went through the net and fell to the court. By the time he starts to signal for a timeout toward the official on that sideline — eventually running down the sideline in an attempt to get his attention — Aberdeen had already grabbed the ball and was in the process of stepping over the baseline to throw it back in.
The NCAA rulebook specifies that once the action of a throw-in begins, the team playing defense cannot call a timeout. There is some gray area in the interpretation of when that “throw-in” process actually starts — and Sendek clearly thought he had signaled for a timeout quickly enough to be granted one — but for a coach to receive a timeout, a referee has to see it, and Aberdeen’s quick thinking to keep the play going gave Santa Clara no margin for error.
Had Kentucky’s senior guard hesitated for even a second in grabbing the ball, Sendek likely could’ve gotten someone’s attention and been granted his timeout. That would have allowed him to set up the Broncos’ defense, which — barring a complete breakdown — likely would’ve led to a much tougher look at a game-tying shot than the one Oweh ultimately got.
Officially, Aberdeen didn’t receive an assist on the play. But without his awareness of the situation, there’s a much greater chance that UK’s season would’ve ended Friday.
Another unofficial assist on the play goes to an unlikely source: Todd Golden.
Aberdeen explained to the Herald-Leader that the Florida Gators head coach had referees come to Gainesville — where the UK transfer played his first three years of college ball — for a rules refresher last season, and this exact play was one of the topics they covered.
He acknowledged that he wasn’t aware of the particulars of this specific situation before that meeting.
Aberdeen wasn’t looking at Sendek at the moment Graves’ shot went through the net Friday, but he knew someone on the Santa Clara sideline would likely be trying to call a timeout if a UK player didn’t take matters into his own hands.
“So it was me just trying to get it out as quickly as possible,” he said.
Getting to the ball quickly wasn’t even half the battle. Aberdeen then had to get it in to someone who would be in a position to make a 3-pointer in the little amount of time the Cats had at their disposal. He said he knew Oweh would be the target almost immediately.
“So as soon as I took it out, I kind of glanced at the clock to see how much time we had,” Aberdeen said. “And we kind of looked at each other and gave each other that eye like, ‘Just go. Just run down the court and get the best shot we can off.’ And that’s what he did.”
Aberdeen confirmed that he and Oweh locked eyes at that moment. The unspoken look between them, according to the guy throwing in the ball, said they were on the same page. Oweh said his teammate gave him far too much credit.
“The moment was so big. I may have been looking at him, but I didn’t even see (that), for real,” he told the Herald-Leader of the eye contact. “I’m just glad he found me. You know, in that moment, you could be looking around everywhere — just trying to throw the ball down the court — but he was really in the presence of mind to find me and lead me.”
Aberdeen led Oweh with the pass, like a quarterback would lead a receiver on the football field, and that gave Oweh a little head of steam and a few tenths of a seconds of time to get farther down the court before he would have to touch the ball, triggering the game clock to start.
The hero of the moment said it was a “really smart” play by Aberdeen to set it up. Oweh just used his instincts and a little luck — the shot banked in off the backboard — from there.
And the Cats won an NCAA Tournament game in unforgettable fashion as a result.
Oweh will be the one they show for years to come this time of year. Without Aberdeen, this magical March moment wouldn’t have been possible.
As Oweh raced up the court to get in position for his buzzer beater, Aberdeen jogged behind him in the backcourt, knowing the play was out of his hands.
All he could do was watch.
“Midair, I was like, ‘That might be good!’” Aberdeen said. “So I kind of bent down and looked at the basket, and it went straight in. One of the craziest shots I’ve ever seen.”
