Team Effort Leads to Big Rebound Advantage for Cats

Oscar Tshiebwe has been a rebounding machine for Kentucky all season long. The 6-9 junior entered Tuesday’s game against Southern averaging an even 16 rebounds for the season, more than any player in the country.

But Tshiebwe found himself being keyed on by the Jaguars and in some foul trouble on Tuesday. In fact, it wasn’t until inside the final two minutes that Tshiebwe kept his streak of double-figure rebounding games going (he has done so in all eight games this season).

That meant there were plenty of rebounds for others to grab in UK’s 76-64 win over Southern. And the Cats did it by committee on this night, with several players stepping in, and stepping up, to pick up the slack.

Kentucky had five players grab at least three rebounds, as the Cats outrebounded the Jaguars 41-25 in the game. Freshman Daimion Collins pulled down six rebounds, as did Jacob Toppin, while Davion Mintz had five.

Also chipping in were Sahvir Wheeler with four rebounds and TyTy Washington Jr. with three.

UK head coach John Calipari knows that not all of his players met their expectations on Tuesday.

“We had some guys not play well,” Calipari said. “My kids are not machines, they are not computers, they don’t play well every night.”

However, Calipari knows that, even if a player is not playing well, he can do things to still help the team.

“If you’re not making shots, what are you doing to help us win?,” Calipari said. “Do you rebound? If you’re not playing well, do you have no rebounds or one rebound?”

That factor will also come into play as Calipari narrows the Cats’ rotation, just as the schedule ramps up, beginning with a game at Notre Dame on Saturday.

“Over the next 10 days, we’ve got to start making the decision.

Calipari was pleased with Mintz on Tuesday, especially considering it was his first game back after battling an illness.

“Today, I went with Davion because I wanted him to get his wheels under him,” Calipari said. “Davion ended up with five rebounds. This kid just rebounds the ball.”

Calipari cited a couple of other players who helped the Cats gain that rebounding advantage.

“I thought Jacob (Toppin) gave us great energy,” Calipari said. “I thought Jacob’s energy (was good).”

Collins was another player who drew praise from the head coach.

“I thought Daimion did some good stuff today,” Calipari said. “He’s confident.”

While Tshiebwe continues to be the glass cleaner for this Kentucky team, it comforts Calipari to see others get into the rebounding column. On this night, it was truly a team effort on the part of a number of UK players.