Pope says Oklahoma matchup had the weirdness of a first-round tournament game
We aren’t supposed to use the phrase “Win and advance” until March but that cliche very much encapsulated the overall feel in Norman, Oklahoma on Wednesday night. From the early foul trouble to the skirmishes in the middle at the end to the confusion at the end, Kentucky’s win over the Sooners had an odd feel to it. For lack of a better word, it was kind of just weird.
Mark Pope shared that sentiment in the post-game press conference, starting with the rotation and guys he had available.
“There was a lot of weirdness going into this game. We had a total roster transformation with [Butler and Robinson] coming back. Because then I have two guys that are actually probably going out of the rotation from starting spots…and then there were changes in the first game back with health and foul trouble. Both bigs got in foul trouble early in the game and then Lamont fouled out.”
Kentucky entered the game excited to have Jaxson Robinson and Lamont Butler back in the starting lineup after missing them for multiple contests, but due to Robinson re-aggravating his wrist injury and Butler fouling out, Kentucky was without their two stars for the last four minutes. This forced Pope to play a lineup stuck together with bubble gum and duct tape. Well, duct tape and Otega Oweh.
Kentucky players with Oklahoma ties added to the weirdness
Oweh, the former Oklahoma Sooner, returned to his former stomping grounds and put the entire Kentucky team on his back in the second half, scoring the team’s last 18 points. No one besides Oweh scored for the ‘Cats in the last 12 minutes and 50 seconds. How weird is that?
Even better, Oweh’s whole family was in town, including his brother, NFL linebacker Odafe Oweh, to watch him play.
Of course, Oweh wasn’t the only Kentucky player with ties to Oklahoma. Brandon Garrison played for OU’s rival school, Oklahoma State last year. He had his family in town too, including his infant son, who he brought with him to the press conference. I’m typically not a pro bring-your-baby-places-they-shouldn’t-be kind of guy, but he was pretty dang cute.
Pope talked about how the multiple homecomings (including Jaxson Robinson who is originally from Ada, OK) added to the weirdness, “This had all the makings of a first-round tournament game…all the weirdness, like the weirdness of guys coming home. It was a late start. The roster turnover. It was really a different environment.”
Weird or not, Kentucky survived with a much-needed win on the road. Now they advance to No. 1 Auburn on Saturday for what will hopefully be a more normal game.
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