ST. LOUIS — Otega Oweh rescued Kentucky with a buzzer-beating shot from just inside the half-court line to force overtime, then hit the tiebreaking free throws in the extra period as the seventh-seeded Wildcats beat No. 10 seed Santa Clara 89-84 on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament.
In an electrifying finish to regulation play that fit “March Madness” to a T, Santa Clara’s Allen Graves drained a 3 from the right wing with 2.4 seconds left to put the Broncos ahead 73-70. Oweh received the inbound pass, pushed the ball up the court and pulled up to the left of the midcourt logo to launch his desperation heave.
The ball was in midair when the buzzer sounded, and it banked in for the tie.
“As he raised up, he said, ‘That’s a bucket,’ and then threw it off the glass,” second-year Kentucky coach Mark Pope said.
Oweh said he was just trying to get the ball out of his hands in time.