Kentucky Survives Late Oklahoma Run, As Otega Oweh Hits Crazy Shot To Keep Wildcats Alive In SEC Tournament

NASHVILLE, TN - You didn’t expect the SEC not to deliver on Friday morning in Nashville, right? Thanks to a huge comeback from Oklahoma in the final minute against Kentucky, it took an incredible shot from Otega Oweh to send the Wildcats into the next round. 

Trailing 80-72 with just over one minute remaining in the game, Oklahoma forced Kentucky into multiple turnovers, leading to fans clad in blue starting to fear that the SEC Tournament curse from the past few years would once again catch up with them. 

For the Oklahoma fans that made the trip to Nashville, you could hear the small section behind the Sooners bench come to life as their team started to claw back into this game in the final minute.

It was Jeremiah Fears who gave Oklahoma the lead with just 5.2 seconds remaining in the game, which felt like a dagger for Kentucky, given that everything was going against them over the previous thirty seconds. You could hear the gasps from the ‘Blue Mist’ as the shot went in for the Sooners, and it looked as though Oklahoma was going to send Big Blue Nation home with another early SEC tournament loss. 

Leading by six points with 41 seconds remaining in the game, the final seconds were a rollercoaster of emotions. The sequence was an Oklahoma three-pointer, a Kentucky turnover, Sooners with a dunk, followed by another Cats' turnover, which led to Jeremiah Fears hitting this shot with 5.6 seconds remaining. 

But, just as quickly as the Sooners took the lead and sent fans into a frenzy inside Bridgestone Arena, the Kentucky faithful were saved just as the clock passed midnight in Nashville, thanks to Otega Oweh. This was the second time this season that the former Sooner defeated his former team at the buzzer. 

Kentucky's Otega Oweh hits last second shot to once again beat Oklahoma on a last second shot. Via: SEC

For the first time since 2019, Kentucky won an SEC tournament game in the ‘Music City’, thanks to Otega Oweh driving the length of the court to save his team from another early exit in the first postseason tournament of 2025. 

At that moment, you could feel the tension from the thousands of Kentucky fans who had spent a hefty amount of money attending the SEC Tournament in Nashville finally coming to a rest. 

"If you're going to beat us, you're gonna have to kill us," Mark Pope said postgame about Kentucky. 

And, it's not lost on the first-year Kentucky coach on how much this tournament means to fans that travel to watch their favorite team. 

"The whole game, you see all these people. It's an arena full of Kentucky fans. Most of these fans probably have never been able to a game at Rupp because they can't get in, so they save and plan for a year to come here and do this."

Kentucky's Lamont Butler Hurt. Get Your Popcorn Ready For Today 

One of the bigger storylines, besides the ending, coming out of the Kentucky win over Oklahoma is the health of Lamont Butler. After being injured in the first half and getting X-rays, head coach Mark Pope spoke about the Cats' star following the game, which did not sound very good. 

"It's devastating, guys, for him...I'm praying like crazy, or I will be, that he can find his way back on the floor at some point this year," Pope said postgame. "It's just unfair. It feels unfair. Man, I would like so badly for him to play again."

We will wait to see about Butler's status, but there's a good chance we won't see him again this week in Nashville unless his injury is not too bad. But, judging by his reactions from the bench, you could tell Lamont was pretty upset about his upper-body injury. 

I honestly thought we'd see at least a few blowouts on Thursday, but I was clearly mistaken. The entire day inside Bridgestone Arena was pure insanity, even with Missouri running away from Mississippi State late in the game to win. 

But, we started the day with Ole Miss beating Arkansas on the final shot of the game, as Sean Pedulla drilled a 3-point shot to send the Rebels into the next round, playing Auburn later today for a spot in the semifinals. 

And from that moment, I didn't think we'd see another game that lived up to the Rebels and Razorbacks, but thanks to the Texas civil war, the show went on. 

It took two overtimes for hated rivals Texas and Texas A&M to finish their matchup, with the Longhorns pulling the 94-89 upset that felt like a four-hour game. Now, Texas will play Tennessee this afternoon for another semifinal spot. 

Obviously, we're going to get a letdown game, which came at the hands of Missouri beating Mississippi State 85-73, which set up the Tigers vs. Florida matchup on Friday night. 

But, just as we started the day with a last-second winner, we ended the second round in the early hours of Friday morning with Kentucky pulling off the buzzer-beater. 

I hope you're ready for a wild weekend of college basketball around the country, especially in the Music City, as the SEC Tournament has already lived up to the hype. 

My goodness, I needed a nap after Thursday. But we'll have you covered starting at 12 p.m. ET later today on all our platforms.