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Kentucky’s Otega Oweh banks in buzzer-beater to force OT as Wildcats take down Santa Clara in NCAA tournament
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Kentucky’s Otega Oweh hit one of the best NCAA tournament buzzer-beaters you’ll see to force overtime in the No. 7 Wildcats’ 89-84 win over No. 10 Santa Clara.
After Santa Clara’s Allen Graves hit a 3-pointer to give the Broncos a 73-70 lead with 2.4 seconds to go, Oweh banked in a game-tying 3-pointer from just inside half-court as time expired.
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Take a look. The ball was out of Oweh’s hands with 0.2 seconds to go.
Santa Clara had three timeouts remaining after Graves’ shot, and Broncos coach Herb Sendek wanted to get a timeout before Kentucky rushed the ball up the court. But the official on the bench sideline immediately turned to sprint up the court and was not looking at Sendek as he frantically signaled.
The Wildcats then opened the game up in overtime with an 8-0 run. Trailing 79-77 with 2:37 to go in the extra frame, Kentucky flipped that deficit into a six-point lead and put the Broncos away. Kentucky ended the game making its final five shots.
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After scoring seven points in the first half, Oweh exploded over the final 25 minutes. He finished with 35 points after he dropped 22 in the second half and added another six in overtime. When asked after the game by CBS if that was the best game he’s been in, Oweh was quick to say yes.
“Nah, I’m not going to lie, that’s probably the best one yet,” Oweh said. “That’s what March is though. All the best games happen at this time of the year and it was a blast. I’m glad we got to pull it out.”
Oweh was 11 for 24 from the field and played 43 of the game’s 45 minutes. He also grabbed eight rebounds and dished out seven assists, and likely improved his NBA Draft stock with his historic outing. He became the third player in NCAA tournament history to have at least 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in multiple first-round games and the first to have a 35, 8 and 7 line or greater since Larry Bird in the 1979 NCAA tournament.
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A season ago, Oweh had 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists in Kentucky’s tournament-opening win over Troy.
The overtime win prevented one of the most expensive rosters in college basketball from an embarrassing first-round loss as a higher seed for the third time in the past five seasons.
After two first-round upsets in three seasons under John Calipari, Kentucky parted ways with its longtime coach after the 2024 season to hire former Kentucky player and BYU coach Mark Pope.
In 2025, Kentucky made the Sweet 16 as a No. 3 seed before losing to Tennessee.
This season, the Wildcats began the season ninth in the AP Top 25. They never got any higher than that ranking and ended up finishing ninth in the SEC in what was undisputedly a disappointing regular season. However, much of that uneven season will be forgotten if Oweh’s buzzer-beater is the spark for a deep tournament run.
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