Kentucky’s locker room was understandably frustrated following a brutal 75-74 road loss to Auburn. A controversial offensive foul called on Collin Chandler with 14 seconds left erased Kentucky's cushion, and Auburn cashed in with just 1 second left. The Cats had one last chance to win the game, but there would be no LSU repeat performance.
Otega Oweh, who was brilliant all night despite playing through severe foul trouble, was the one who inbounded the ball to Chandler on the decisive play.
Following the loss, Oweh pointed out a massive inconsistency in how the referees handled the final few minutes compared to the rest of the physical SEC battle.
Otega Oweh calls out a 'weird whistle' down the stretch
Asked by Goose Givens about the officials and how they seemingly changed the way they were calling the game in the closing moments, Oweh didn't hold back.
"Yeah, it's just really unfortunate. We were playing the same way the whole game, the refs even said they were going to let us play… It's a weird whistle."
It is incredibly frustrating for players when the established physical boundaries of a game suddenly change on the most important possession of the night. You play one way all night long, you then get into the most crucial possession of the game, and it flips. Auburn had been allowed to play incredibly physical defense for 39 minutes, but the moment Chandler extended his arm to create space against a hold, the whistle was blown.
However, to Oweh's credit, he didn't solely blame the referees for the loss. He acknowledged that Kentucky had plenty of opportunities to secure the victory themselves.
"Yeah, I mean, we had multiple times we could have won it. I feel like we be beating ourselves," Oweh admitted. "Even with that call, we could have won if we just got that board."
Oweh is referencing the missed defensive rebound on Auburn's final possession, where Elyjah Freeman was able to secure a putback to give the Tigers the lead for good. Brandon Garrison watched the ball be rebounded by two Tigers, and I was wondering what he was doing in the game. He has never been known to be physical or to get many big rebounds.
When asked what specific areas the team needs to improve on to stop this current three-game slide, Oweh kept it simple: "Our physicality still on rebounds, our transition defense… and just rebounding."
If Kentucky wants to get back in the win column, they have to figure out how to close out defensive possessions with a rebound. If they don't, they will go from on the bubble to NIT.