Otega Oweh wasn't at his best against Tennessee, but made big plays when Kentucky needed them

Otega Oweh fought through a sickness on Wednesday to score 15 second-half points in Kentucky’s comeback win over LSU. And while he wasn’t quite as productive in the second half of Kentucky’s 80-78 comeback win over Tennessee on Saturday afternoon, the senior guard came up with massive plays for his team down the stretch.

By finishing with 12 points against the Volunteers, Oweh continued his streak of scoring in double-figures during every game this season, which is now up to 18 straight contests. But his first-half performance was anything but what we’ve seen from him over the last four games. He had just two points by halftime, missing both his field goal attempts while turning the ball over three times. It looked like whatever illness he dealt with a few days earlier was still lingering.

But just like he did earlier this week, Oweh found his groove in the second half after UK trailed by as many as 17 in the first half. Despite shooting 3-9 from the field and 3-7 from the free-throw line after the intermission, his 10 points were necessary for Kentucky’s comeback. They all came in the final eight minutes of game time, too.

To jump-start his second-half scoring, Oweh’s lone three-pointer of the game made it just a three-point Tennessee lead with 7:52 left in regulation. Two free throws a minute later kept it at the same deficit. A steal-and-score a few possessions later stopped the Vols from growing their lead beyond six. His and-one finish in transition with 34 seconds left gave UK its first lead of the entire afternoon, one that the ‘Cats would not relinquish.

Down but not out…

Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats trailed Tennessee by 17, and won.

Otega Oweh, @jerseymikes Naismith Men’s College POY Watch List member, hit a clutch and-1 to take the lead late in the half.

Will the “Comeback Cats” keep these late-game heroics coming?… pic.twitter.com/EfC7Mg0Bam

— Naismith Awards (@NaismithTrophy) January 17, 2026

After scoring at least 20 points in Kentucky’s previous four conference games and looking more like the SEC Preseason Player of the Year he was lauded as a few months ago, Oweh couldn’t find his groove on Saturday, but he morphed back into that player during crunch time. Jasper Johnson picked up the slack for him in the first half, while Denzel Aberdeen did the same in the second half, which helped Oweh save his best basketball for when it mattered most.

“I’m happy for Otega. Because he’s looking around now and he’s like, ‘You know what, I got a squad,'” Head coach Mark Pope said. “‘I can go play.’ And that’s gotta make him feel great that he can have not his best game and we can still have a good performance as a team, because he brings it every game. He’s probably the most consistent player I’ve ever coached.”

Oweh’s streak of double-digit scoring goes beyond this season, too. He’s now at 21 straight games as a ‘Cat with at least 10 points. Even when you think he’s about to finally fall under that mark, he goes on a run that pushes him over the threshold in a matter of minutes. Saturday was also his 13th straight game of the season with at least one steal; 12 of those games included at least two thefts.

If there’s one thing the Big Blue Nation and Mark Pope can count on with this Kentucky team — other than first-half deficits — it’s that Otega Oweh is going to find a way to make his mark at some point.

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