Refs saved Kentucky almost as much as Otega Oweh in win over Santa Clara

Kentucky’s first game of the NCAA Tournament came against a familiar face, Santa Clara head coach Herb Sendek. The former Rick Pitino assistant, who recruited Mark Pope to Kentucky back in the ‘90s, nearly took down the Wildcats on Friday in St. Louis, but at 63 years old, he was just a little too slow to stop Otega Oweh from saving the day. 

A tumultuous season for Pope looked to be at its end when Santa Clara forward Allen Graves hit a three-pointer with 2.4 seconds remaining to put the Broncos ahead 73-70. However, Kentucky quickly inbounded the ball to Oweh, who finished with 35 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in the 89-84 overtime win, and the senior banked in one of the greatest shots in tournament history from just over half court at the buzzer. 

Oweh may never have had that opportunity, though, had Sendek gotten the officials' attention in time to call one of his three remaining timeouts after Graves’ shot went down. After turning to his bench, you can see Sendek hustling towards the referee, but by then, Denzel Aberdeen had already inbounded the ball. 

The referee, correctly, did not award the timeout, but if they were prepared or anticipated Sendek to call it, Kentucky would have never had a chance. If Santa Clara had been awarded the timeout, Sendek, no doubt, would have instructed his team, being up three, to foul, all but eliminating an opportunity to tie the game. 

Herb Sendek nearly got a timeout called just before Otega Oweh’s buzzer-beater

Even if Santa Clara opted not to foul up three, Sendek would have had a better defensive structure to handle the hard-charging Oweh and make the game-tying heave considerably more difficult. 

The referees aren’t the only ones who deserve credit from BBN for Oweh getting the shot off, however. Kentucky doesn’t always appear to be the most well-coached team in the country, but Pope had his veteran guards ready to inbound quickly and give themselves the best shot of tying the game. The second-year head coach spoke about that awareness in his postgame press conference. 

“One of the things I was really proud of was there was no pause, throw your hands up, feel sorry for yourself reaction from our guys. They scrambled, got the ball in, Otega raced down the floor, and stopped right in front of me, and as he raised up, he said ‘that’s a bucket’ as he threw it in off the glass,” Pope told reporters only partially in jest.

“But that next play mentality, I think that’s something that you talk about all the time, but you learn through experience, and our guys have a whole bunch of it, man.” 

Kentucky was lucky Sendek didn’t get awarded a timeout, but they also made their own luck. And that quick reaction from Aberdeen and Oweh may have just saved Pope’s job.