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You’ll be seeing this shot in “One Shining Moment.”

Kentucky star Otega Oweh banked in a miracle 3-pointer at the buzzer to send Friday’s first-round NCAA Tournament game against Santa Clara to overtime.

The seventh-seeded Wildcats then pulled way in the extra five-minute period to down the 10th-seeded Broncos, 89-84, with Oweh pacing all scorers with 35 points.

“Otega Oweh has just etched his name in the March Madness lore,” CBS play-by-play man Spero Dedes said. “Miracle shot for Kentucky.”

“We didn’t want the season to end yet,” Oweh said postgame. “The games are gonna give us a lot of ups and downs that we can’t really control, but we’ve just gotta respond, and we just found a way to respond, so we’re not done playing yet.”

Kentucky and Santa Clara just set the bar high for game of the tournament due to the wild finish that featured eight points in the final 10 seconds and a 3 that is now part of Kentucky lore.

Oweh tied the game at 70-70 on a layup with 10 seconds before Santa Clara’s Allen Graves countered with a 3-pointer with three seconds remaining to take a 73-70 lead and seemingly end Kentucky’s season.

But these Wildcats had an extra life left and Oteh received the inbounds pass and dribbled past halfcourt before raising up roughly from 40 feet out to hoist a miracle shot.


  Oweh fires from roughly the logo. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Oweh fires from roughly the logo. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Oweh banked in his shot right after the buzzer sounded and the St. Louis crowd erupted, with his teammates swarming him.

“One of the things I was really proud of was there was no pause, throw your hands up, feel sorry for yourself,” Kentucky head coach Mark Pope said postgame. “That next play mentality, that’s something that you talk about all the time, that you learn through experience, and our guys have a whole bunch of it.”

“It was a really euphoric high followed by a tough one to swallow,” Santa Clara head coach Herb Sendek added.


  Oweh’s 3 forced overtime and the Wildcats prevailed. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect Oweh’s 3 forced overtime and the Wildcats prevailed. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Kentucky (22-13) then rode the momentum from the shot to take control in overtime, going on a 8-0 run after falling behind, 79-77, with roughly two-and-a-half minutes remaining in the extra period.

Oweh complemented his 35 points with eight rebounds and seven assists in 43 minutes, hitting 11 of his 24 shots and three of his eight attempts from deep — none bigger than his uber-long heavy.

Elijah Mahi led santa Clara (26-9) with 17 points.

The Wildcats now await the winner of the clash between second-seeded Iowa State and 15th-seeded Tennessee State in the Midwest Region.

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