Did Santa Clara Get Screwed By Officials Before Otega Oweh Saved Expensive Kentucky Team In NCAA Tourney?

Pure March Madness chaos unfolded in St. Louis on Friday afternoon between Kentucky and Santa Clara, and we are all grateful for the madness. 

While we've seen plenty of fantastic finishes during the NCAA Tournament, I don't know if we'll see one like we all witnessed over the final minute of regulation in this one. 

As both teams traded punches for nearly 40 minutes, the final ten seconds will be remembered. 

First, it was Allen Graves of Santa Clara who found himself outside the arc for what many thought would be the game winner that sent them to the round of 32. 

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But, Kentucky wasn’t done just yet. With the clock ticking down to zero, it was Oweh Otega who drained the 40-footer to send this one into overtime in what was one of the craziest sequences in recent memory. 

Oh, and Otega Owef finished with 35 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, which hasn't been done since Larry Bird in 1979. 

Though, one of the questions coming out of this one is whether the officials should have awarded Santa Clara a timeout following the Allen Graves 3-point shot. As you can tell by the video below, head coach Herb Sendek was trying to call a timeout, but this official was not paying attention to him. 

This led to Otega Oweh driving the court, and hitting the game-tying basket that sent this one to overtime. 

I would say Santa Clara has an obvious gripe over this one. 

Yea, good luck topping that one, as the two teams continued trading punches in overtime to the delight of fans watching on television, and in St. Louis. 

We've been craving another game like this, following the 19-point comeback from VCU against North Carolina on Thursday night. 

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Expensive Kentucky Roster Survives For Another Round At NCAA Tourney

Kentucky was 2 seconds away from having its reported $22 million roster head home from the NCAA Tournament before the weekend even started. 

Sometimes it's just bad luck. In Kentucky's case, not having Jayden Quaintice as a full-participant hurts, along with Jaland Lowe dealing with a shoulder injury that took him out of action. But still, there is plenty of talent on this team that should've prevented them from kicking off the 2026 SEC Tournament, and starting the NCAA Tournament as a No. 7 seed.

For all the conversations about whether this Mark Pope team could rise to the occasion in March, the Wildcats will still have to answer questions if they don't attain at least a Sweet-16 appearance. 

As we've discussed plenty of times regarding NIL, this Kentucky team has faced plenty of criticism about whether a return on investment would be awarded for putting together one of the highest-paid rosters in college basketball. 

Does a win over Santa Clara bring them satisfaction? No, only cutting down the nets in Indianapolis will suffice the ones who helped pay for this roster outside the revenue-share that the athletics department handed out. 

But, it keeps Kentucky alive. The Wildcats were close to starting an online revolt if Otega Oweh had not drained that shot from way beyond the arc. 

"That's what March is. Some of the best games happen this time of year. I was trying to get as close as possible to hit that shot. That's what March Madness is. We don't want to go home," Otega Oweh said following the win. 

Who knows what will happen on Sunday, with Kentucky facing the winner of Iowa State versus Tennessee State. 

If the Cats' don't advance to the Sweet-16, we'll be back later this weekend talking about how this team wasted an expensive roster to not see the second weekend once again. 

Thanks to the madness of March, that conversation will wait at least two more days.