SEC Tournament: Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s dramatic win over Oklahoma
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Game day: Kentucky 85, Oklahoma 84
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Thursday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Oklahoma in the Southeastern Conference Tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
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Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 85-84 victory over Oklahoma in the SEC Tournament on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.
1. Otega Oweh finds a way — again
Beating your former team on a last-second shot is sweet. To do it a second time is even sweeter. To do it in even more dramatic fashion — and with even less time on the clock — than the first is nothing short of well, unbelievable. And amazing.
But then Otega Oweh is amazing. Not only has the Oklahoma transfer been this Kentucky team’s most consistent player, he has shown a flare for the dramatic. Twice now he has taken down his former Sooner teammates with game-winners. He did it with 6.1 seconds left in the Cats’ 83-82 victory over OU in Norman on Feb. 26. Thursday, he did with 0.5 seconds left, somehow muscling in a shot off a downhill drive, to give Kentucky the victory and a third shot at Alabama on Friday.
“It was a sequel tonight,” UK guard Collin Chandler said. “I got to see it front row.”
Moments before, Oweh had been the goat. First he lost the ball on a drive down the sideline. Oklahoma turned that miscue into a fast-break basket to cut Kentucky’s lead to 83-82 with 23.7 seconds left. Then Oweh threw the ball away near midcourt. When the Sooners’ Jeremiah Fears scored with 5.6 ticks remaining the large slice of BBN inside Bridgestone appeared to be witnessing one of the bigger collapses — UK led 80-70 with 1:26 left — in program history.
Ah, but Oweh saved the day. Again.
2. Oh no, not another injury
Lamont Butler is out again. The team’s starting points guard reinjured his shoulder after playing eight minutes in the first half. After going to the locker room, Butler did not return until the second half, and then was in sweats. After the team’s delirious postgame celebration, the San Diego State transfer went straight to the locker room.
How serious is the injury?
“We did some imaging at halftime and some manual testing and we’ll know more probably by (Friday). We’ll know (Friday),” Pope said.
Later, the UK coach said this: “It’s devastating guys, for him. I’m praying like crazy, or I will be, that he can find a way back on the floor at some point this year.”
Said Chandler, “Lamont is the heart and soul of this team. It’s heartbreaking to lose him again.”
There is a silver lining. This is nothing new. Not for this team. Starting shooting guard Jaxson Robinson is out for the season after undergoing wrist surgery. Starting forward Andrew Carr battled back problems during the middle of the season. Butler missed games when he first injured his shoulder in January. He tweaked it again when he returned, causing him to miss more time.
“We’ve got a super talented group top to bottom,” Carr said afterward. “We’re fully confident in our abilities from 1 to 13. Everybody is ready to step up and we’re not in panic mode at all.”
3. Will third time vs Alabama be the charm?
After such an emotional Thursday night/early Friday morning victory, Kentucky has to come back down to Earth for a quarterfinal matchup against a team it has lost to twice already this season.
The No. 3 seed in this tournament, Alabama beat the Cats 102-97 in Rupp Arena on Jan. 18. Grant Nelson scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Tide in that road win. Then on Feb. 22, Bama completed the regular-season sweep with a 96-83 triumph at Coleman Coliseum. Mark Sears scored 30 points that afternoon.
Not only did Kentucky have to play on Thursday, the Cats played a game that did not start until 10:45 p.m. ET because of the Texas-Texas A&M game that preceded it going into overtime. UK-OU also lasted 2 hours and 21 minutes, meaning it wasn’t completed until nearly 1:15 a.m. ET.
“It’s incredibly challenging,” Pope said in his postgame press conference. “That’s why it’s March Magic, right? It’s March Magic. If you can do it, then you do it, right? We get to be tested in an epic way. We lost twice to Alabama. They’re a top four or five team in the country. We’re a little beat up and a little shorthanded. All that’s fine. That’s actually where you wright the great stories.”
And this story is not yet finished.
This story was originally published March 14, 2025 at 2:37 AM.
