NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Otega Oweh made a baseline jumper with 0.5 seconds left after No. 15 Kentucky had blown a late lead in the final minutes, and the Wildcats beat Oklahoma 85-84 on Thursday night to advance to the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
The sixth-seeded Wildcats (22-10), who led by 10 with 1:20 left, won their third straight and now will play fifth-ranked and third-seeded Alabama on Friday night.
Oweh finished with 27 points. Koby Brea added 22 and Andrew Carr 11.
No. 14 seed Oklahoma (20-13) won its SEC Tournament debut only to lose to a former Sooner for the second time since Feb. 26. Oweh led Kentucky against his old school with another late bucket.
Jeremiah Fears scored 28 points for Oklahoma, including a basket that gave the Sooners an 84-83 lead with 5.6 seconds remaining.
Oklahoma: The Sooners will have to wait for their first win against Kentucky after dropping their second this season and fifth all-time to the Wildcats. They also lost for the first time on a neutral court this season in their seventh such game.
Kentucky: Winners of this tournament a league-high 31 times, this was just the second time the Wildcats had played in the second round. Now the Wildcats keep chasing their first title here since 2018.
They did it with starting guard Lamont Butler playing only eight minutes, leaving at 9:35 of the first half with a right shoulder issue seconds after finishing a fast-break with a layup for his only points.
Fears scored seven straight points capped by his layup to give the Sooners their first lead since 15:51. They trailed by as much as 77-65 with 4:31 left.
The Sooners couldn’t stop Oweh again when it mattered most.
Oklahoma heads home 1-1 in its SEC Tournament debut waiting for its NCAA Tournament destination. Kentucky gets a third chance at Alabama, which took both games during the regular season.
