Tre Mitchell: Kentucky 'proved everybody wrong' on rebounding concerns

Losing Oscar Tshiebwe to the NBA is an obvious blow to Kentucky‘s rebounding efforts for the 2023-24 season. They won’t be tabbed as elite on the glass anymore, but the Wildcats looked just fine hauling in boards in an 81-73 victory against Germany during the 2023 GLOBL Jam in Toronto.

Kentucky was ultimately outrebounded 50-46 by the Germans, but four of UK’s five starters logged at least four or more rebounds on the day. Incoming freshman Justin Edwards led the team with nine boards and as a team, grabbed 11 offensive rebounds.

“We lost our biggest guy yesterday. For us, we proved to ourselves that we can fight. We can rebound,” Kentucky forward Tre Mitchell said during the CBSSN broadcast after the win. “Coming into this, I know there were rumors floating around saying that we weren’t a good rebounding team because of our size. But I think we proved everybody wrong today because we ended up winning the game because we rebounded.”

Ugonna Onyenso, one of Kentucky’s three returning players from last season, had to be helped off the court after suffering an ankle injury during a scrimmage against the Team Africa ahead of the event. Aaron Bradshaw is also expected to miss significant time after undergoing foot surgery last month. Standing a 6-foot-11 and 7-foot-1 respectively, the Cats are stretching as far as they can with their limited roster at the moment.

Still, outrebounding Germany wasn’t the key to victory — rather, it was the three-point shooting that gave the Wildcats the opening win. Mitchell went 4-for-6 from beyond the arc during the matchup finishing with 20 points while contributing six rebounds of his own.

Fellow college veteran Antonio Reeves was just as sensational as he was last season, hitting three treys and scoring a game-high 24 points. Five-star freshman DJ Wagner Jr. also scored 16 points in the contest, rounding out the double-digit scorers on the afternoon.

If Wednesday’s trend keeps up, the 2023 GLOBL Jam could turn into a Kentucky basketball showcase. Seeing their Wildcats play so strong in July on top of it being the first time most of these players have ever played in a real game with each other, is enough for Big Blue Nation to begin planning for number nine already.

Next up for Kentucky is a matchup against Team Canada, which is set for 8:00 p.m. ET in Toronto. The game will air on tape delay July 14 at 12:00 a.m. ET on CBS Sports Network.