Oklahoma took care of business in its first-ever SEC Tournament game, defeating Georgia in the opening round to advance. The Sooners’ reward? A date with the Kentucky Wildcats on Thursday.
It’s a rematch they’ve had their eye on since losing 83-82 in Norman exactly two weeks back, Otega Oweh hitting the game-winner with 6.1 seconds to go after scoring 18 straight points down the stretch en route to a career-high 28 overall.
They didn’t like the way things ended the first time around and expect a different result in round two.
“We took a tough one at home, we feel like we should’ve won down there in crunch time,” Oklahoma forward Glenn Taylor Jr. said after the win over UGA. “Our backs are against the wall and we know we have to get them. We’re going on a revenge tour. We feel like we have to go get Kentucky tomorrow. We’re ready.”
The Sooners are riding high after beating the Bulldogs, planning to turn one into two as their fun in Nashville continues. What went wrong in Norman is going to go right in the Music City, so they say.
“We know how it ended last time, it ended on a last-second shot. We’re ready to go. We’re ready to go and do it again, get a dub,” Sooner forward Jalon Moore added. “… We’re a different team now than when we played them, so being able to close out the game tomorrow and get a dub, that’s going to be fun. It’s going to be a fun and physical game.”
Oweh’s dominance wasn’t the only talking point following Kentucky’s road win a few weeks back — the chippiness was right there, too, including a scuffle at the buzzer leading to a beer thrown at the Wildcats on their way through the tunnel to the locker room.
“It’s just competitive, a competitive edge for all players. We all wanted to win, so those emotions came out,” Moore said. “When it comes to the ball being tipped, we’re going to lock in and we’ll get the dub.”
Any bad blood going into the rematch?
“It’s going to be a good game,” he said.
