Mark Pope says Otega Oweh stays 'in the moment'

Oweh came up big down the stretch against Louisville.

Dec 14, 2024; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Otega Oweh (0) celebrates from the bench during the first half against the Louisville Cardinals at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images / Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Kentucky got a big rivalry win over Louisville in Rupp Arena on Saturday, welcoming their starting point guard, Lamont Butler, back to the lineup. He had one of the best performances in the rivalry game that we have seen, going for 33 points on perfect 10-10 shooting and 6-6 from three-point range, adding 6 assists and 3 rebounds. It wasn't just him, though, who made big plays down the stretch.

Otega Oweh was on point in the second half, most notably hitting a big three in the final minute and a layup to essentially help seal the victory. He finished the game with 17 points on efficient 7-11 shooting overall, 3 assists, a rebound, and 2 steals. Oweh has been instrumental this season in starting and closing games strong, and on Saturday, he put the game away in a hurry. Mark Pope says a big part of that is Oweh's ability to be 'in the moment.'

"One of the great things about O is he is just in the moment. I think he's got a pretty great capacity of just being dialed into the moment and not spending a lot of time worrying about the consequences of what might happen or what just did happen. He's pretty good at being present, he's actually really good at it. I've got a story I want to tell but I'm not sure if I should. You guys - so we had a really fun moment. ...Our guys have made a renewed commitment to be present in class every day. Otega happens to have an early morning class where he's getting better and better at being present. A couple of days ago it was all hands on deck making sure it was there. Two minutes after class, we got a video fromhim of him sitting in an empty classroom because class was canceled
and we didn't know about it. He is the epitome of present."

- Pope on Oweh staying in the moment.

That mindset has worked brilliantly so far this season, as Oweh has been one of the team's leading scorers in almost every game. He knows when to give his team a boost and he did that on Saturday against the Cardinals.