When Otega Oweh announced he would return to Kentucky for his final year of eligibility, he was rewarded with nearly every preseason accolade in the book. 

After a standout junior season, He entered the season as the SEC Preseason Player of the Year, a First Team All-SEC selection and a Preseason All-American, while also landing on national watchlists for the Naismith Trophy, NABC Player of the Year, the Jerry West Award and the Oscar Robertson Trophy.

However, through nine games, Oweh’s performances have consistently fallen far short of his preseason expectations, and he was visibly struggling in the leadership role suddenly placed on him, a responsibility he did not carry a year ago.

After back-to-back losses to ranked opponents last week, it was clear that Kentucky needed someone to step up and get the Cats playing as a team and at a higher level.

With an easier matchup against NC Central on Tuesday, it paved the way for a perfect time to see one of the players take the reins, and Oweh was ready to seize the opportunity.

In his first nine games, Oweh was shooting 48.1% from the field and an underwhelming 28.5% from three, averaging only 13.7 points per game.

However, in his 10th game, he fully flipped the script.

In the Cats’ 103-67 victory over the Eagles, the 6-foot-4 shooting guard tallied a season high of 21 points, led the team with seven rebounds and four steals, all while shooting 75 percent from the field and from three.

Not only that, Oweh was also man-to-man with NC Central’s best player in Gage Lattimore.

Lattimore entered the game leading the team in points per game, averaging 19.5 points while shooting 39.7 percent from the field and 40.8 percent from three.

On Tuesday night, Oweh was able to hold him to just 14 points, shooting only 25.0 percent from the field and an underwhelming 14.3 percent from beyond the arc.

It was the exact kind of defensive response head coach Mark Pope had been asking for.

“I thought he was great… one of the only good things we saw coming out of the first half was he had Lattimore 1 for 10,” Pope said. “He was pretty much solely responsible for that… Otega kind of took that on and said, ‘Hey, I’m going to make sure we handle this.’”Pope said. 

Oweh’s development as a leader has been far slower than it has needed to be, but nobody is more aware of his shortcomings than he is. 

“I mean, I’m the leader, I’m the older – I’m the oldest guy here. I’ve been here … I feel like, you know, a lot of the guys, they look to me, you know, to set the example. So, you know, a lot of it is on me, on why our intensity, I feel like, hasn’t been there. And, you know, we just got to turn it as a group,” Oweh said following the win.

The lack of intensity has led Kentucky to go 0-4 against ranked opponents this season, the most concerning coming in a 35-point loss to No. 11 Gonzaga and a 17-point loss to No. 17 Michigan State.

The lackluster box scores were the least of Kentucky’s problems.

The issue came with a clear lack of determination and effort.

“I mean, regardless of what the score was, I feel like we just didn’t put up a fight like at all. So, you know, that’s something that, you know, we got to take away from that,” Oweh said in regard to the Gonzaga game.

“But, you know, when you’re losing, you know, these high major games, it kind of, kind of, takes a toll on you, breaks you down, you know, energy-wise. But that’s the thing. Instead of that, we got to lean into each other and, you know, have the most energy instead of it going down,” Oweh said.

Oweh is the only returning starter from last year’s squad who is also a senior. Becoming the voice on the court and in the locker room has been a slow process for Oweh, but he has undoubtedly taken steps forward.

“I think I’m making strides in the right direction. You know, it’s gonna be, it’s an uphill thing. It’s not just, it’s not a one game thing. I feel like it’s gonna be over time. So, you know, I just gotta be super intentional and committed to doing it every single day. But I do think I’m making some good strides,” Oweh said.

Pope noticed the shift in the NC Central game as well. Aside from his best season performance, his presence as a leader is becoming more well known.

“I think he’s really trying to rally the guys. He’s trying to show some leadership. You know, he played well on both ends of the ball tonight. I thought Otega is really important for us and he’s carrying a big load, and he’s got to. That’s what you do and that’s your job and he’s going to continue to grow in that and we need him to be great moving forward,” Pope said postgame.

The growing pains for Kentucky this year are something nobody was expecting, and the time it has taken to get on track is leaving the Cats with little time to find their rhythm ahead of conference play.

However, the team isn’t letting the outside noise affect it, and although the Cats still have yet to defeat a Power Five opponent, Oweh’s confidence has not faltered in the belief he has in his team to go far in March.

“I feel like everything happens for a reason. I feel like it’s probably gonna be one of the most remembered years for all of us individually, because we’re gonna turn it around. So it’s gonna end up being the best year. It wasn’t the prettiest start. So I feel like that’s something we just gotta look at,” Oweh said.