Mark Pope goes through full range of March Madness emotions with Otega Oweh game-tying shot

For a few grueling seconds, Mark Pope ’s soul left his body, with the Kentucky men’s basketball coach’s sullen facial expression saying it all. Then, with a flick of the wrist, his star player banked it right back into place. In one of the more eventful and chaotic four-second sequences in NCAA tournament history, Pope’s Wildcats team gave up a go-ahead 3-pointer to Santa Clara with 2.

4 seconds remaining only to immediately respond with a 3 of its own, with Otega Oweh firing it off the glass from just past midcourt as time expired to send the game into overtime and ultimately deliver Kentucky an 89-84 victory in a first-round matchup on Friday, March 20 in St. Louis. REQUIRED READING: Otega Oweh saved Kentucky's season Friday.

He might have done more than that While Oweh played the role of hero on a day in which he scored a career-high 35 points, it was Pope’s range of emotions to the waning seconds of regulation that stood as some of the enduring images from the Wildcats’ thrilling triumph. After Allen Graves buried a 3 for Santa Clara to break a 70-70 tie in the 7-versus-10 matchup, Pope looked out at the court stoically after intently providing defensive instructions to his players only seconds earlier. He remained that way as Oweh’s shot went up and raised his arms in joy after it passed through the net and calmly said “Let’s go” to his players as they passed by him.

Mark Pope's reaction to Otega Oweh's sensational game-tying shot 🤯 @KentuckyMBB pic. twitter. com/hn3Kh9L97c — CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 20, 2026 Kentucky went on to outscore Santa Clara 16-11 in the extra period to move on to face No.