Oscar Tshiebwe Continues Record-Breaking Season
Oscar Tshiebwe has been raising the bar on outstanding performances all season long. It seems that, with every game that happens, Tshiebwe finds himself setting some sort of new standard.
It started from the very first game of the regular season when Tshiebwe scored 17 points and grabbed 20 points against Duke. He broke the Champions Classic record for rebounds. He set the UK record for most rebounds in a debut and grabbed the most rebounds by any UK player since Jared Prickett in 1994.
He was just getting started.
In the second game of the year, a win against Robert Morris, Tshiebwe again pulled down 20 rebounds. He tied the Rupp Arena record for rebounds by a UK player and was one short of the all-time record for the building. His 40 rebounds in two games was the most by a UK player.
In UK’s next game, a win over Mount St. Mary’s, Tshiebwe set a career high in scoring with 24 points. He only had 16 rebounds in that game.
He would eclipse that career high when he scored 25 points at Notre Dame, in a game where he had season-low seven rebounds.
Two games later, Tshiebwe not only broke the Rupp Arena record for rebounds – he crushed it. The record of 21 had been held by LSU’s Shaquille O’Neal for over 30 years until Tshiebwe grabbed an incredible 28 boards in UK’s win over Western Kentucky.
It was the most rebounds for any Division I player in almost seven years and the most rebounds by a UK player since the legendary Dan Issel pulled down 29 in 1969, which was a span of 52 years.
On Tuesday night at Vanderbilt, Tshiebwe’s season of breaking records continued. He scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as Kentucky won 78-66 inside Memorial Gymnasium. In doing so, he became the first Kentucky player to record at least 30 points and 10 rebounds in a game since Patrick Patterson recorded 33 points and 11 rebounds against Tennessee State on Dec. 22, 2008.
The junior never sets out to break a record on a particular night.
“That is crazy because I never even think about ‘today I’m going here’,” Tshiebwe said. “I just think that today, I’m going to go out and fight. I just go out there and fight. I never had a dream about scoring 30 points in a game, it just happened. I have the ability to finish down in the post and I made free throws. That’s a good thing.”
That fight has increased lately, according to UK head coach John Calipari.
“We had a game a couple of games ago where he graded out, on his sprints, the worst he had all season,” Calipari said. “So now, I’m focused on him running that floor. It puts him ahead of the action. He’s going to get some easy ones. He’s in a great position to rebound.”
Calipari also credits the other Cats with helping Tshiebwe.
“But how about the way the team is finding him and passing him the ball,” Calipari said. “They’re throwing it and, a couple of games ago, he wasn’t catching them. Remember early in the year, he couldn’t make two-footers? Now, he’s hitting jumpers and making free throws.”
Junior Keion Brooks Jr. and Tshiebwe’s teammates sometimes take a step back to realize exactly what they are witnessing.
“I was on the bench, talking to Lance (Ware) or Bryce (Hopkins) and I was like ‘Oscar is really good’,” Brooks said. “I wouldn’t say I was surprised but sometimes we’ve got to take the time to appreciate what somebody really does. And Oscar has been tremendous for us all year and playing exceptionally well.”
For his part, Tshiebwe wants to be remembered, and not just for basketball.
“I want my name to be remembered forever,” Tshiebwe said. “Not just as a basketball player, the way I treat people. The stuff I’m bringing to Kentucky basketball. I want my name to be remembered as Oscar who was different, not just a basketball player.”
Tshiebwe continues to raise the bar for himself and his team. And in doing so, he makes the Cats tougher and tougher to beat.
