Beyond the box score: All the small things in Kentucky’s thrilling NCAA Tournament win vs. Santa Clara

In a game like the one Kentucky won on Friday in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, everyone will remember the miraculously incredible three-point shot from Otega Oweh that sent the game into overtime. Kentucky’s 89-84 overtime win on Friday was the culmination of a game that featured 12 ties and 20 lead changes. In the final 24 seconds, Oweh also made a spinning layup to tie the game at 70, Santa Clara’s Allen Graves hit a go-ahead three to put the Broncos up 73-70, then Oweh, as Spero Dedes said on the CBS broadcast, etched his name into March Madness lore.

That sequence, especially Oweh’s incredible shot, is what everybody will remember. But games like this also contain so many small plays that helped decide the outcome. This game between Kentucky and Santa Clara is no different.

There are numerous examples of smaller-scale plays that may have been overlooked at the time, but after watching the game a second time, these plays are what led to Kentucky pulling out the thrilling win. Take the first possession of the game for Kentucky. Even though they missed three shots on the possession, they got three offensive rebounds.

Two of those offensive rebounds were by Malachi Moreno, who made the fourth shot to get Kentucky on the board first. Moreno only scored three points on Friday, but he had six rebounds, including three on the offensive glass. Even though he looked a little overwhelmed on the NCAA Tournament stage, Moreno still made enough good plays to help Kentucky come away with the win.