Oscar Tshiebwe says adversity has helped Kentucky

Kentucky has been no stranger to adversity this season. The Wildcats lost back-to-back games early in January, and then came the rumors about John Calipari being a candidate at Texas. But throughout all of that adversity, Kentucky has come together as a team and Oscar Tshiebwe is pleased with that.

After Kentucky defeated Texas A&M 76-67 on Saturday, Tshiebwe evaluated how Kentucky has battled through that adversity. The team is closer as one unit now than they were a couple of weeks ago, and that has been an important factor in the Wildcats’ improved play over the last week.

“Yes, we are good together,” Tshiebwe said. “I told them, when we won, everyone benefits something. When we lose, it doesn’t matter how good you look. You look bad because if the team is not winning, you’re not going anywhere. So, motivated them with the word of God. Come see me, we can talk about God, because God is the one helping us with a lot of things. Now they’re starting to listen to me more too.

“We’ve got many guys that are stepping up as a leader. I love Cason [Wallace]. Cason is stepping up as a leader. C.J. [Fredrick], Lance [Ware], everybody. When they see somebody not doing good, somebody not doing what they’re supposed to do, bring them together. ‘Hey, you can’t be doing that. Going to go see coach.’ So that’s why the team right now seems more focused.”

Tshiebwe, Kentucky using negatives as motivation

Kentucky’s response to the adversity came right when the rumors about Calipari’s future seemingly reached their peak. All of the talk going into the game at Tennessee on Saturday, Jan. 14 were about Kentucky’s struggles, but the Wildcats didn’t listen.

“Just taking whatever negatives out there to be motivation,” Tshiebwe added. “We know how good we are. So many teams, we see they don’t have the talent that we have. And now, everybody believes in themself. Now, time to go pick up the team. We’re now together, and I’m loving it.”

Kentucky defeated Tennessee, who was ranked No. 5 at the time, 63-56. The Wildcats then defeated Georgia and Texas A&M in the following two games, improving to 13-6 overall and 4-3 against SEC opponents.

Tshiebwe has been a huge part of Kentucky’s recent success, too. He put up one of the most impressive stat lines you’ll ever see against Georgia, putting up 37 points and 24 rebounds. He followed that up against Texas A&M with 17 more boards.

Kentucky travels to Vanderbilt on Tuesday night before hosting No. 2 Kansas on Saturday.