Oscar Tshiebwe builds case for National Player of the Year with eye-popping stat

Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe is in the middle of one of the greatest seasons in college basketball history. The 6-foot-10 center has corralled rebounds with ease all season long. Tonight, against LSU, he recorded his 10th consecutive double-double. The Congolese center has already recorded his 22nd double-double of the season.

In the first 27 minutes of tonight’s game, he stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, 13 rebounds, and three blocks. The game was nationally televised on ESPN. Simply put, it’s hard to envision any player in the country winning the National Player of the Year award other than Tshiebwe. He’s made historic numbers look rather routine all season long.

Kentucky held on to win tonight’s game 71-66, despite struggling a bit to get the ball inbounds in the final minute. Tshiebwe finished with 17 points, 16 rebounds, and three blocks in the game.

The only Kentucky men’s basketball player with more double-doubles in the program’s history is Julius Randle with 24 in 2013-2014. Tshiebwe has also moved up to fifth place for the most rebounds in a single season by a Kentucky player in the program’s history. His rebounding total on the season now sits at 427–the most rebounds in a single season by a Wildcat player over the last 50 years. He passed Julius Randle (417, 2013-2014) and Anthony Davis (415, 2011-2012).

Oscar Tshiebwe has been putting up historic numbers

As noted above, Tshiebwe is putting up earth-shattering rebounding numbers and it’s hard to envision anyone catching him for National Player of the Year. Against Florida, he pumped in 27 points and corralled 19 rebounds. He became the only SEC player over the last 25 seasons with five 20/15 games in a season.

Against Western Kentucky on Dec. 22, Tshiebwe corralled 28 rebounds. He followed that game up with a 20-rebound performance against Missouri on Dec. 29. His 48 rebounds in that two-game span are tied for the most by a D-I player over the last 25 seasons. It’s been an unbelievable year for Tshiebwe and Kentucky fans are hoping he continues his dominant play into March Madness next month.

The win tonight was the 18th straight home win for Kentucky, dating back to last season. Only Gonzaga and Texas Tech have more. The Wildcats continue to play like a team that’s going to be a legitimate Final Four contender in March.