Otega Oweh headed to the locker room in the first half of Friday’s game against Alabama after taking a hit to the face. The Kentucky guard was defending against Labaron Philon when he got hit with an inadvertent elbow.
Philon was driving to the basket as Oweh was defending and hit him on the left side of the face with an elbow. The officials didn’t call a foul on the play, and deemed it a basketball play after reviewing it during the commercial break.
Out of the timeout, SEC Network’s Molly McGrath asked Mark Pope about how Oweh’s absence – however long it would be – impacts Kentucky moving forward. Considering the Wildcats’ injury issues this year, he said they know about the next-man-up mentality.
“We just move on to the next guys,” Pope said. “Unfortunately, we have a ton of experience doing that and they’ve responded really well. So that’s what we’ll do right now.”
Oweh spent quite a bit of time in the locker room for a mouth injury, McGrath later reported. Kentucky expressed optimism about his chances of returning, and he later returned to the bench with just over six minutes to go in the first half. He checked back in with 5:30 to go in the first half with a cut on the left side of his lip.
“You mentioned Kentucky guard Otega Oweh is back in the locker room with a very bloody mouth injury,” McGrath said. “They’re not too concerned about his ability to return, but I am being told that he is still being evaluated. That is the most that I can get on Otega Oweh’s status thus far.”
Oweh is a crucial part of the Kentucky attack this season and played the hero in Thursday night’s victory over Oklahoma. After the Sooners took a lead with five seconds to go, Oweh took the inbound down the court and hit the game-winning layup with 0.5 second left. That not only sent Kentucky to the SEC tournament quarterfinal, but also became Oweh’s second game-winning shot against his former team this season.
Oweh leads Kentucky in scoring this season, averaging 16.5 points while shooting 49.5% from the field. He’s also a threat on the defensive end, leading UK with 1.3 steals per game, as well. With Lamont Butler also out with an injury, Oweh is even more important to the Wildcats’ success as they chase an SEC tournament title.