Oweh Hit the Shot of a Lifetime on Thursday. By Saturday, It Was Over.

Think about what Oweh experienced in 48 hours. Thursday night: trailing by three with 2.4 seconds left, he took a pass near halfcourt and heaved. The ball banked off the glass and dropped through the net. Rupp Arena — because the tournament was in Lexington — erupted. Oweh scored 35 points, grabbed 8 rebounds, dished 7 assists, and committed just 2 turnovers in 43 minutes. It was the performance of a lifetime.

Saturday afternoon: Iowa State's traps turned Kentucky's composure into chaos. Oweh committed 4 turnovers. The team committed 20. The lead that Kentucky built in the first half evaporated into a 19-point loss. Oweh still scored 18. He still grabbed 8 rebounds. He still played 36 minutes. But the game was gone, and so was his career.

That's the cruelty of March. The highest high and the lowest low, separated by one sleep.

Over two seasons at Kentucky, Otega Oweh averaged 18.6 points per game as a senior after arriving as a transfer. He played in 36 games this season. He scored in double figures in all but a handful. The buzzer-beater against Santa Clara will be replayed for decades — it belongs in the same conversation as the program's greatest tournament moments.

But the number that will haunt this season is 14. That's the number of losses. Oweh carried a roster that was built to contend and instead spent the final two months trying to survive. He deserved better. He never said that. He just kept playing.

Denzel Aberdeen transferred from Florida — the team that beat Kentucky three times this season — and became the Wildcats' second-leading scorer at 13.5 points per game. When Jaland Lowe went down with a shoulder injury in January, Aberdeen slid to point guard and held the backcourt together. He shot the ball well from three. He defended. He facilitated. He did it all without complaint and without fanfare.

His final game: 20 points on 6-of-14 shooting, 4-of-9 from three. It wasn't enough. It was never going to be enough against that Iowa State defense with 19 turnovers dragging Kentucky under. But Aberdeen went out shooting, which is exactly what you'd expect from a player who gave his senior year to a program in transition.

They both did. And Kentucky is better for it — even if the record doesn't show it yet.