As Otega Oweh goes, this Kentucky group goes; that may nearly actually be true within the NCAA Tournament. ESPN included Kentucky’s senior guard in its list of the “50 players who could define March Madness.” Oweh is available in at No. 38, the one Wildcat on the list.
“As injuries mounted in Lexington, Oweh’s outsized role in the Wildcats’ offense grew until he became the clear alpha in SEC play,” Jeff Borzello wrote. “He’s averaging 18.2 points on the season, but that increased to more than 21 in SEC play. His downhill driving style is nearly impossible to stop in transition, making him a factor in late-game situations. He has become more dangerous from the perimeter this season, too, averaging 3.6 attempts on 33.6% shooting from 3.”
Oweh’s skill to get to the rim could be what will get the Cats previous an excellent Santa Clara group within the first spherical. While the Broncos have dimension, ability, and capturing, they don’t have a participant fairly like Oweh, who has put Kentucky on his again on multiple event. He struggled within the SEC Tournament quarterfinal loss to Florida, however within the two video games prior, he hit key buckets to ensure the Cats superior. Now, with the top of his school profession on the road, he’ll be trying to do the identical in St. Louis.
There aren’t any Santa Clara gamers in ESPN’s Top 50 rankings — though Allen Graves and Elijah Mahi are ballers; nonetheless, ought to the Cats beat the Broncos to advance to the Second Round, they could face a group with THREE gamers on the list. Iowa State’s Joshua Jefferson is No. 8, Milan Momcilovic is No. 19, and Tamin Lipsey is No. 39. Momcilovic is the star, averaging 17.1 factors per sport and hitting threes at a 49.6% clip, however Jefferson would be the most impactful participant on the Cyclones’ roster. As Myron Medcalf famous, Iowa State is 20.5 factors higher per 100 possessions with the 6-foot-9 ahead on the court docket, per EvanMiya.
Hopefully, we’ll get to fret concerning the Cyclones on Friday after Kentucky beats Santa Clara. Until then, at the least we’ve acquired one participant within the Top 50 list in Otega Oweh. By the best way, he solely wants 12 extra factors to go Bill Spivey for probably the most by a Kentucky participant of their first two seasons with this system. Just additional motivation.
Joe Lunardi ranks Kentucky No. 36 within the discipline
Kentucky was No. 25 on the Selection Committee’s overall seed list, the highest No. 7 seed. Joe Lunardi has the Cats additional down the list in his ranking of the teams in the field. Kentucky is No. 36, with Lunardi dropping some laborious takes on the Cats in Mark Pope’s second season.
“After watching Kentucky’s uneven play this season, it’s hard to expect it to make anything other than a cameo in this tournament. There’s not an obvious NBA talent on the roster, and the Wildcats have no identity. They earned a spot in the field through stiff nonconference scheduling and conference affiliation, which outweighed their achievements on the floor.”
I don’t know that I can argue with any of that, however hopefully, the Cats show Lunardi incorrect.
