Oklahoma men's basketball loses 85-84 to Kentucky behind Otega Oweh's game winner

Oklahoma (20-13, 6-12) lost to Kentucky (22-10, 10-8) 85-84 Thursday night in the second round of the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee.

The loss to the Wildcats snapped the Sooners’ three-game winning streak and brought their run in the SEC Tournament to a close. Despite a late rally by the Sooners, Oklahoma lost to the Wildcats in heartbreaking fashion once again thanks to a Otega Oweh game-winning layup.

Here are three takeaways from the Sooners’ loss:

Late Sooners surge comes up short

With 6:39 remaining in the second half, Oklahoma trailed Kentucky 66-65 and had been battling back-and-forth with the Wildcats throughout the entire game.

Two minutes later, the Wildcats lead ballooned to 77-65 and the Wildcats appeared to have complete control of the ball game. However, with their SEC Tournament lives on the ropes, the Sooners refused to lay down and die.

After Kentucky guard and former Oklahoma Sooner Otega Oweh sunk two free throws to put the Wildcats up 80-70 with 1:26 remaining in the game, the Sooners went on a furious, 14-3 run over the ensuing one minute and 20 seconds to take an 84-83 lead over the Wildcats.

The run began with a Jeremiah Fears and-one layup to cut the lead to seven. Transfer guard Kobe Elvis made a layup of his own to cut the lead to five. After a made Kentucky free throw, Fears hit two free throws of his own and the lead was down to four.

Two more Kentucky free throws stretched the lead to six with 41 seconds to go. Then, for a brief moment, Sooner Magic struck in Nashville. Fears knocked down a three to cut the Wildcats lead to three. The Sooners then forced back-to-back Oweh turnovers which led to a transition dunk for Jalon Moore and a Fears go-ahead jumper to put the Sooners on top 84-83 with 5.6 seconds to go.

Then, it was déjà vu for the Sooners. After Kentucky called their final timeout, Oweh took the Wildcats inbound pass 94 feet down the court and hit the game-winning layup in eerily similar fashion to his go-ahead bucket that lifted the Wildcats over the Sooners in Norman back in February.

With Oweh’s layup, the Sooners came up one-point short of defeating the Wildcats once again.

Sooners struggle from deep in the first half

Against Georgia in the Sooners opening-round game the night before, Oklahoma knocked down 10 three-pointers on their way to 43 first-half points. That was not the case against the Wildcats.

The Sooners only managed to make four triples in the first 20 minutes, going four of 15 from beyond the arc. Despite the poor shooting from deep, Oklahoma only trailed by two points as they entered the locker room behind a strong defensive performance.

Transfer guard Glenn Taylor Jr. was one for one from deep. Transfer guard Kobe Elvis and sophomore forward Luke Northweather both went one for two, and freshman guard Jeremiah Fears went one for eight from deep. Senior forward Jalon Moore and transfer guard Brycen Goodine both attempted one three and missed.

Oklahoma also benefited from poor three-point shooting from the Wildcats. Kentucky also went four of 15 from deep in the first half. Both teams managed to get good looks. However, the shots were not falling for either side, keeping the score tight throughout the first half.

Sooners keep contact on the boards early

With 12 minutes to go in the first half, transfer center Mohamed Wague had to head to the Sooners bench after picking up his second personal foul. Wague never returned in the first half, and Oklahoma was forced to play small ball against one of the top rebounding teams in the SEC.

Despite the smaller lineups and overall rebounding struggles that Oklahoma has dealt with all season, the Sooners were able to hang tough on the boards against the Wildcats in the first half.

When Wague left the game, Kentucky held an eight to four rebounding advantage. At the half, Kentucky had managed an 18 to 15 advantage on the boards, and the Sooners only gave up three offensive rebounds. Those three offensive boards only turned into five points for the Wildcats.

Moore led the way for the Sooners with four rebounds. Fears and Taylor Jr. pulled down three boards each, Elvis and transfer guard Duke Miles both grabbed two rebounds, and Goodine snagged one board.

Kentucky was able to find a bit more traction and advantage on the boards in the second half. The Wildcats finished the game with a 36-38 rebounding advantage over the Sooners.

With the loss, the Sooners' SEC Tournament run comes to a close. Now, the Sooners await their fate for the NCAA Tournament, which will be announced at 5 p.m. on Mar. 16 during Selection Sunday on CBS.

What channel is Oklahoma vs. Kentucky on today?

TV channel: SEC Network

Start time: 8:30 p.m.

Location: Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN

Notes: After defeating Georgia 81-75 in the first round of the SEC Tournament, the Sooners advanced into the second round, where they will take on the Kentucky Wildcats for the second time this season. Kentucky got the better of Oklahoma in the first meeting after former Sooners guard Otega Oweh hit a go-ahead layup with six seconds left to give the Wildcats an 83-82 victory over the Sooners inside the Lloyd Noble Center. A victory for the Sooners would push their winning streak to four games and increase their chances of receiving an NCAA Tournament bid even further. If the Sooners take down the Wildcats tonight, they will advance to the SEC quarterfinals, where they will take on Alabama, who is the No. 3 seed in the Tournament.