Oklahoma Sooners eliminated from SEC Tournament on Otega Oweh’s last-second shot.
The Oklahoma Sooners lost a heartbreaker at the hands of the Kentucky Wildcats on a late night in the SEC Tournament.
A game that ended after midnight local time saw the Sooners and Wildcats put together another instant classic. The two teams battled back and forth all night and in the final seconds.
Kentucky stormed out to an early 8-0 lead and had another eight-point lead in the first half, but Oklahoma showed the toughness and grit that’s sparked their play over the last seven games and trailed by just two at halftime. Despite a poor start to the game for star true freshman Jeremiah Fears, the future lottery pick battled against a tough Kentucky backcourt to put his mark on the game once again.
Oklahoma trailed by 12 with 4:31 remaining and still trailed by nine with just under 1:30 left in the game.
Down the stretch, Jeremiah Fears, Kobe Elvis, and Jalon Moore came in clutch to give the Sooners a chance and tight defense in their full court press forced Kentucky into turnovers that cut into the lead. After Koby Brea made a pair of free throws, Jeremiah Fears knocked down a clutch three to cut the lead to three.
The Sooners press defense led to a pair of turnovers. After the first, Jalon Moore was left all alone under the basket and he finished with authority to cut the lead to one. After the second, Jeremiah Fears received the ball at the top of the key and patiently took his time before darting to the basket and hitting the go-ahead layup with just under six seconds to play in the game.
After Kentucky coach Mark Pope called a timeout, the Sooners set up their defense on their end of the floor, and Otega Oweh used a screen to get open, catch the ball, and raced to the basket. Though the Sooners had two players there to defend Oweh, neither could cut off his approach to the rim, and he came through in the clutch once again.
It was a tough way to be eliminated from their first SEC tournament, but the Sooners showed incredible toughness to come back from 12 down in the final five minutes. Though they’ve gone just 4-3 in their last seven games, they’re playing their best basketball since the calendar turned to SEC basketball. What they’ve shown on the court during that stretch will be enough to get them into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2020.
Fears finished with 28 points, five assists, four rebounds, and three steals to lead the Sooners once again. Though it was a heartbreaking loss for Oklahoma, Fears will be one of the top storylines going into the tournament.
Senior Jalon Moore had a rough night, going 5 of 14 from the field for 12 points. He also added seven rebounds in the game. Kobe Elvis led the Sooners off the bench with 12 points and Mohamed Wague and Glen Taylor Jr. each had nine.
Now the Sooners await Selection Sunday to see where they’ll be heading when the NCAA Tournament field is announced. But as the Sooners wait for their March Madness destination, they can rest easy knowing they’ve done more than enough to get into the Big Dance.
