Otega Oweh drove the length of the court and avoided three defenders to convert the winning layup with half a second left as sixth-seeded Kentucky escaped with a wild 85-84 victory over 14th-seeded Oklahoma on Thursday night to reach the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville.
Oweh scored 27 points and Koby Brea added 22 points for the No. 15 Wildcats (22-10), who will play third-seeded Alabama on Friday night.
Oweh’s winning basket came after the Sooners (20-13) ripped off a frantic 19-6 run to take a one-point lead on Jeremiah Fears’ driving hoop with 5.6 seconds left. The Sooners took advantage of the absence of stellar Kentucky defender Lamont Butler (left shoulder) during their impressive rally.
Fears scored 28 points while Kobe Elvis and Jalon Moore scored 12 points apiece for Oklahoma, which might have to sweat it out on Selection Sunday for an NCAA Tournament bid.
Ole Miss 83, Arkansas 80
The Rebels’ Sean Pedula drilled a 3-pointer with just over a second remaining to lift eighth-seeded Ole Miss past the ninth-seeded Razorbacks.
With the Rebels down by three and 20 seconds left, Ole Miss’ Dre Davis hit a layup and was fouled. He made the free throw to even the score 80-80, setting up Pedulla’s heroics.
Malik Dia had 19 points to lead Ole Miss (22-10), which will face top-seeded Auburn on Friday in the quarterfinals. Jonas Aido paced Arkansas (20-13) with 17 points, and Trevon Brazile finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Texas 94, No. 14 Texas A&M 89 (2 OT)
Tre Johnson scored 20 points and Tramon Mark added 15 as Texas helped its NCAA Tournament hopes with a double-overtime win against the Aggies.
Texas won the game on five free throws in the final 37 seconds of the second OT, including two from Jordan Pope with 13 seconds left. Texas A&M missed six shots and a free throw in the final two minutes. Kadin Shedrick scored 14 points and Pope added 13 as the Longhorns (19-14) advanced to face fourth-seeded Tennessee in the quarterfinals.
Wade Taylor IV scored 29 points, while Manny Obaseki added 17 for Texas A&M (22-10). Andersson Garcia scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Henry Coleman III totaled 10 points and 13 rebounds.
No. 21 Missouri 85, Mississippi State 73
Tamar Bates had 25 points as the seventh-seeded Tigers held the 10th-seeded Bulldogs to without a field goal for over four minutes down the stretch en route to the second-round win.
Mississippi State (21-12) led 68-67 with 4:52 to play before Missouri (22-10) clamped down and used a 12-2 run to take control.
Tony Perkins scored 20 points for the Tigers, who will face second-seeded Florida in the quarterfinals. Josh Hubbard led the Bulldogs with 24 points, and KeShawn Murphy added 18.
–Field Level Media
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