Back and forth Kentucky and Santa Clara went. It was unfolding like many of us thought it would. When it looked like Kentucky would pull away, Santa Clara responded. When Santa Clara looked like they were pulling away, Kentucky responded.
Otega Oweh had his One Shining Moment when, with Kentucky down 73-70, he pulled up from deep and heaved a prayer at the buzzer. That prayer was answered on a banked-in shot, sending the game to overtime tied at 73-73. Kentucky had no timeouts when Santa Clara’s Allen
Graves made a three-pointer to give the Broncos a 73-70 lead with 2.5 seconds remaining. Finality flashed before Kentucky’s eyes. But Oweh wasn’t ready to see it. Neither was this Kentucky team.
Say what you want about them. They have resilience. A lot of it. In a game that had 12 ties and 20 lead changes, Kentucky kept battling and responding and prevailed with an incredible 89-84 overtime win.
Otega Oweh had a career-high 35 points, including his memorable three-pointer and 28 points after halftime, and he was aided by 17 points from Mouhamed Dioubate, 16 points from Denzel Aberdeen, and 10 points from Brandon Garrison.
Kentucky, somehow someway, advances to Sunday to take on either No. 2 seed Iowa State or No. 15 seed Tennessee State in St. Louis.
First Half
The Cats came out assertively, racing out to an 8-2 lead just over 90 seconds in, with Denzel Aberdeen and Otega Oweh each nailing a three-pointer. But a multi-minute scoring drought enabled the Broncos to tie the game 8-8. Oweh drove to the basket for a lay-up, getting credited with the bucket off a goaltending, to give Kentucky a 10-8 lead at the first media timeout with 15:10 remaining.
Brandon Garrison came into the game at the 17:01 mark of the first half, and he helped the Cats break out of their scoring drought with two hard-earned buckets in less than six minutes. He would score six points on 3-3 shooting. The Cats were struggling early, shooting the ball, with Collin Chandler missing his first three three-point attempts.
Chandler would eventually reach 0-5 from three-point range, but the Cats were overcoming his early struggles by getting to the line and clamping down defensively. The key development from the first half was Santa Clara’s Allan Graves picking up three fouls by the 7:26 mark of the first half. Graves is Santa Clara’s best three-point shooter and the West Coast Conference Sixth Man of the Year. That shortened Broncos head coach Herb Sendek’s bench.
Both teams were getting up and down the floor in the first half. Every time it looked like Kentucky was about to open up the lead, the Broncos had an answer. It was an evenly-matched game throughout the first half, a testament to the battle-tested mentality of both teams.
The end of the first half was a lot of what we have seen from Kentucky this season. They had four turnovers in the last 5:30 of the first half and went the final 2:29 without scoring. In fact, the Cats only scored three points in the last 5:30 of the first half. Crazy enough, Santa Clara made only one of their last seven shots in the first half. It was 31-29 Broncos at halftime.
Kentucky had seven turnovers and was just 4-15 from three-point range. Despite holding the Broncos to 35.5 percent shooting from the floor, the Cats were losing the rebound battle 20-19 at halftime.
Second Half
The second half opened with a blitz by both teams, with the first media timeout not coming until the 13:06 mark. In that 6:45, Kentucky went 5-9 from the field and 3-5 from three-point range. Oweh, Chandler, and Aberdeen all made three-pointers. Oweh scored nine points in the first 6:45, eclipsing his first-half total of seven points.
But Santa Clara stayed within striking distance, making six of their first 12 shots. Kentucky’s defense forced two turnovers early on and got the Broncos in foul trouble on the offensive end.
How about Brandon Garrison?! His hammer-down with 12:56 remaining will long live on his highlight reel. If only Kevin Harlan were on the call (no offense to Spero Dedes calling the game on CBS today, who is also a really good announcer).
Of course, the Broncos got hot offensively, making six of seven shots to take a 59-55 lead with 7:47 remaining. It was part of a 15-4 run that made a 51-44 Kentucky lead to a 59-55 deficit. Adding to it, Brandon Garrison got to four fouls and had to come out with 8:17 remaining.
Otega Oweh came alive out of the timeout. He converted a tough and-one to give Kentucky a 60-59 lead and added another bucket that gave Kentucky a 67-64 lead with 3:41 remaining. Oweh’s biggest play in that segment, though, was an assist to Kam Williams for three off a missed free-throw. After the ball ricocheted right back to him, Oweh dribbled out and calmly found Williams on the right wing for an open three. Williams drained it to give Kentucky a 63-62 lead at the time. It was 67-64 Cats at the final media timeout, with 3:41 remaining.
The Broncos retook the lead at 70-68 with 1:25 remaining. Kentucky had the ball out of a timeout, but couldn’t convert on an Oweh three-point shot.
Kentucky had another chance with 25.2 seconds remaining, still trailing 70-68. Oweh then made a lay-up to tie the game at 70-70. Then, after a three-pointer by Allen Graves to put the Broncos up 73-70, Oweh nailed a long three at the buzzer to tie the game at 73-73.
Unbelievable.
Overtime
It was a tight battle continuing into overtime, with the game tied at 79-79 with 1:12 remaining. Oweh hit two free throws for an 81-79 lead. On the next possession, Brandon Garrison blocked a three-pointer and then dunked it on the other end to put Kentucky up 83-79. There was now less than a minute left. After another Garrison block on the next possession, Mouhamed Dioubate got to the free-throw line and made two free throws for an 85-79 lead.
Kentucky would ice the game at the free-throw line and in transition, holding on for an improbable 89-84 win.
MVP: Otega Oweh
No further explanation needed, Your Honor. Oweh’s memorable Kentucky career is now forever cemented into March Madness lore thanks to an all-time shot that will be replayed countless times throughout the Bluegrass.
Highlights
Box Score
Kentucky vs. Santa Clara Twitter Reactions
Big Blue Nation was all over the place during this game, per usual this season. Here are the best reactions from Big Blue Nation.
