Kentucky needed more from Otega Oweh in Louisville loss

Otega Oweh didn’t look like the Preseason SEC Player of the Year in Tuesday night’s loss to Louisville.

The Cardinals do deserve credit for making life difficult for the senior guard, but there were times when Oweh didn’t do himself any favors in the 96-88 defeat. In 28 minutes, he posted 12 points on 4-13 shooting, including a 1-6 mark from three-point range. He chipped in five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and a block, but turned the ball over five times before fouling out down the stretch. His -16 in the plus/minus was the lowest among his teammates.

We can at least start with some of the good. Oweh picked off two Louisville passes near midcourt that he turned the other way for easy points. There was some success in driving to the rim and getting fouled. He hit a highly contested three-pointer in the first half. But those positives felt way too few and far between. The bad seemed to wholly outweigh any good.

Oweh continued to chuck up three-pointers despite minimal success. Six shots from deep set a new single-game career-high. He pulled off an excellent block on a Louisville defender in the first half, only to race down the other end of the floor straight into traffic before losing the ball. Simple things like ball security were an issue, and for whatever reason, have been since the season started. He got caught ball-watching on defense a handful of times, which the Cardinals’ red-hot shooters quickly ate up.

“I thought they (Louisville) were physical with him. I thought they brought a crowd,” Kentucky head coach Mark Pope said of Oweh postgame. “They did everything we didn’t do. They were really good at bringing a crowd, making him play through multiple defenders.”

Kentucky simply needed more from its star player. Oweh was steady in the Wildcats’ first two regular-season games against bad opponents, but some of the problems mentioned above were there. He still scored a combined 28 points on 10-19 shooting against Nicholls and Valparaiso.

The thing is, Oweh returned for another season in college so he could improve his game for the NBA level. And at least through three games, he’s mostly looked like the same style of player he was last season, but now someone who is trying to do too much (and with fewer pure shooters surrounding him compared to last season).

Oweh has five assists to 10 turnovers this season. The turf toe injury that forced him to sit out over two months of summer practice should not be left out of the conversation. That was a setback that has surely impacted his start to the season. But he still shot 1-6 from deep and was regularly beaten on defense against Louisville. That can’t continue if he’s going to live up to preseason expectations.

Kentucky certainly needs him to.

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