Are the basketball gods against Kentucky or what? Thursday night had everything—thrilling highs and brutal lows. The Wildcats pulled off a win against Oklahoma, thanks to a last-second bucket from Otega Oweh. But before they could even soak in the victory, disaster struck. Their best perimeter defender Lamont Butler, who’s been battling a lingering shoulder injury, went down again. Losing him was already bad news, especially with Alabama. And just when it seemed like things couldn’t get worse, well, they did.
At the 11:24 mark in the first half against Alabama, Oweh hit the floor—hard. Blood. Visible pain. A whole mess. He took a shot to the face while defending Labaron Philon, who caught him with an inadvertent elbow as he drove to the basket. The officials reviewed the play but ruled it a clean basketball move—so no foul.
But, Kentucky fans weren’t exactly thrilled with that call. Oweh spent a good chunk of time in the locker room tending to what Kentucky beat writer Aaron Gershon hinted might be yet another stitches situation.
But in a much-needed break of good news, he later returned to the bench with just over six minutes left in the half and checked back in at the 5:30 mark—sporting a fresh cut on his lip but ready to keep fighting.
Oweh going to the locker room.
Looks like another stiches situation. https://t.co/N0kiY14Ewm
— Aaron Gershon (@agershon99) March 15, 2025
It’s been a brutal stretch for Kentucky, but Mark Pope trusts his guys as when asked about Oweh’s absence, he answered, “We just move on to the next guys. Unfortunately, we have a ton of experience doing that and they’ve responded really well. So that’s what we’ll do right now.”
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