Otega Oweh injury update: Kentucky star visibly hampered in Round of 32

Otega Oweh was the hero on Friday, carrying Kentucky to a Round of 64 overtime victory against Santa Clara with 35 points and a game-tying half-court heave that will live forever in NCAA Tournament history. 

The pressure is on Mark Pope to get the Wildcats back to the Sweet 16 in Year 2, and the Wildcats caught a major break with Iowa State leading scorer Joshua Jefferson officially ruled out pregame with an ankle injury. However, in the first half, of Sunday's matchup with the second-seeded Cyclones, UK's luck turned with Oweh noticeably hampered by an apparent hand injury. 

Otega Oweh battling hand injury, foul trouble vs. Iowa State

While the injury to Oweh’s shooting hand didn’t send him to the bench, foul trouble did early in the second half. The senior picked up his third soon after the intermission. At the time of his third foul, Oweh had just seven points on 3-7 shooting with three turnovers and no assists. 

Without a true point guard since Jaland Lowe’s early-season shoulder injury, Oweh has been leaned on as the team’s primary offensive playmaker.  Iowa State was able to take advantage of that deficiency in the first half, forcing seven turnovers to stage a 12-point comeback and lead 31-30 at the break. 

Pope will need Oweh to be a major contributor down the stretch Sunday to avoid an early exit that could put him on the hot seat. That won’t be easy with Oweh’s foul trouble and nagging hand injury. The second-year transfer leads Kentucky in scoring this season, averaging 18.7 points.

Pope’s second year leading his alma mater has not gone to plan and has been largely impacted by injuries to Lowe, former five-star Arizona State transfer Jayden Quaitance, who are both still sidelined, and Tulane transfer Kam Williams, who returned to action in the SEC Tournament and came off the bench against the Cyclones. 

Oweh’s injury will be one to monitor through the rest of the second half, though it shouldn’t keep him out of the game.