ST. LOUIS — Otega Oweh rescued Kentucky with a buzzer-beater from just inside half court to force overtime, then hit the tiebreaking free throws in the extra period as the seventh-seeded Wildcats beat No. 10 seed Santa Clara 89-84 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
In an electrifying finish to regulation that defines the words “March Madness,” Santa Clara’s Allen Graves drained a three from the right wing with 2.4 seconds left to put the Broncos ahead 73-70. Oweh received the inbound pass, pushed the ball up the court and pulled up to the left of the midcourt logo to launch his desperation heave. The ball was midair when the buzzer sounded, and it banked in for the tie.
“As he raised up, he said, ‘That’s a bucket,’ and then threw it off the glass,” second-year Kentucky coach Mark Pope said.
Oweh said he was just trying to get the ball out of his hands in time.
“It’s March,” he said. “I feel like that’s just what happens. You know, it’s crazy.”
“I was just praying for it to go in. I was about to cry if he missed that shot,” added teammate Mouhamed Dioubate. “I was just hoping the shot went in. I didn’t want the season to end already.”
Oweh scored a career-high 35 points and had eight rebounds and seven assists for the Wildcats (22-13), who will face either No. 2 seed Iowa State or 15th-seeded Tennessee State in the second round in the Midwest Region.
Oweh’s two free throws with 1:12 remaining in overtime put Kentucky in the lead to stay in its 63rd NCAA Tournament appearance, the most in the country.
Brandon Garrison twice blocked three-point attempts by Sash Gavalyugov in the final minute of overtime, following the first with a breakaway, two-handed dunk that stretched Kentucky’s lead to 83-79. His second block led to more free throws for the Wildcats.
Teammates credited the six-foot-10 Garrison for suggesting in a huddle that they switch on screens, declaring that he’d be able to handle the matchup with the six-three guard Gavalyugov.
“I don’t know where you get this drama, I don’t know where you get this this transformation of emotions to just from despair to thrill to despair to thrill in a matter of four seconds,” Pope said. “But we got that a bunch.”
Christian Hammond led Santa Clara (26-9) with 20 points and Graves scored 17.
“It was a really euphoric high, followed by a tough one to swallow,” said Broncos coach Herb Sendek, a 600-game winner making his return to the tournament for the first time since 2014 with Arizona State.
Graves put Santa Clara ahead 70-68 when he caught Elijah Mahi’s airballed three-pointer and made the putback with 1:33 to play, just before the shot clock expired. After a miss by Oweh, Graves had another point-blank attempt that missed, and Oweh was able to scramble for the ball on the floor as Kentucky called timeout.
Oweh tied it with a layup with 9.9 seconds left to set up the wild finish. Adding to the fast-moving drama, neither team was granted a timeout in the closing seconds.
“I unequivocally called timeout. But they didn’t grant it,” said Sendek, asserting that officials should have recognized that a coach might want to set up his defence after Graves’ three-pointer. “I mean, I think the video evidence is clear. And anybody is able to pull it up.”
Santa Clara was seeking its first tournament win since 1996, when future NBA MVP Steve Nash was a senior.
“It hurts how it all ended, but I’m just thankful, man,” Mahi said. “God bless, I’m just thankful.”
Dioubate scored 17 points for Kentucky. Denzel Aberdeen, a transfer from Florida’s national championship team last season, added 16.
Collin Chandler and Aberdeen connected on back-to-back threes to begin a 13-4 burst as the Wildcats attempted to build a lead in the second half. Aberdeen’s second three-pointer in the stretch put Kentucky ahead 51-44 with 12:21 to play, but Gavalyugov immediately responded with a three of his own to ignite a response.
After a high-arcing three-pointer from Mahi, Gavalyugov hit a jumper and another three to put Santa Clara ahead 59-55 with 7:56 remaining.
The long-range shooting was quite the turnaround from the first half, when both teams struggled with matching 4-for-15 marks from behind the arc. The Broncos led 31-29 after closing the half with a 10-3 stretch that featured seven points from Mahi.
Oweh breaks a longtime Kentucky record
Oweh, a transfer from Oklahoma and the younger brother of Washington Commanders edge rusher Odafe Oweh, broke the Kentucky record for points in a player’s first two seasons. It had stood since the Wildcats’ 1951 national championship season and was held by All-America center Bill Spivey, who would later face point-shaving allegations.
“It’s been life-changing. It’s a testament to the guys that are around me,” said Oweh, who has 1,237 points at Kentucky. “That wouldn’t have happened without them.”
