Ben Howland believes Kentucky has national championship potential

Ben Howland brings his Mississippi State Bulldogs to Rupp Arena tonight for the first of back-to-back games vs. ranked opponents. After facing the No. 12 Cats, the Bulldogs travel to No. 13 Texas Tech for the Big 12/SEC Challenge on Saturday. Yesterday, Howland told reporters he was anxious to see how his squad — 13-5 overall, 4-2 in the SEC — handled a challenging week. Then, big man Tolu Smith went down with a knee injury in Mississippi State’s win over Ole Miss.

“I was really looking forward to this stretch. I was just so disappointed after the game I just didn’t have my normal amount of elation and joy after a win over our rival because of what happened to Tolu. I’m just sad he’s not available to play in these games for him and for us.”

“Both those teams are great teams. Kentucky has the potential to win the whole thing, without question. And I think Texas Tech has the chance to battle for their league championship, the way they’ve been playing defensively.”

That’s just one of many nice things Howland said about Kentucky yesterday. Let’s run through them all, starting with the man who could give the Bulldogs fits with Smith out, Oscar Tshiebwe.

Oscar Tshiebwe: “He’s a monster”

Tolu Smith is second on the team in scoring with 13.0 points per game. The 6’11” 245 lbs. redshirt junior partially dislocated his knee vs. the Rebels and is considered week-to-week. Without him, the challenge of containing Oscar Tshiebwe becomes even more daunting for the Bulldogs. Coming into this game, Oscar still leads the nation in rebounding with 14.8 boards per game. He also leads the Cats in scoring with 16.1 points per game.

“He’s a monster,” Howland said of Oscar. “His rebound numbers are just phenomenal. I’m amazed when I watch how well he runs the floor. He runs the floor like a tank. A very fast tank. He’s incredibly athletic and strong and what’s really fun to watch and appreciate is everything is two-handed. He has two hands on all his rebounds. He has two hands on everything he does. His hands are amazing, how strong he is. And his motor, he’s immovable. Wherever he’s at, he ain’t moving. It would take two to three guys to be able to move him once he’s set where he’s posting up or planting himself to get second shots. He’s getting five offensive rebounds-plus a game. He’s just an incredible player. Arguably one of the best players in the country.”

Howland was candid when asked how Mississippi State is preparing for Tshiebwe.

“We do our best. We do the best we can do and what’s really problematic is just trying to block him out, keep him off the offensive glass. As soon as his man leaves the help on any penetration, they just throw the ball at the rim and he’s dunking. So it’s really a tough one. He creates a lot of problems.”

TyTy Washington: “He’s really an incredible scorer”

TyTy Washington will not play tonight, but Howland still had plenty of praise for the versatile freshman.

“He was amazing when [Sahvir] Wheeler was out. I watched the game he had 17 assists in. I was just blown away by his basketball IQ and how he saw the floor so well and how he shared the ball so well and still scored well. He’s really an incredible scorer. He’s very good off the dribble, he’s a good catch-and-shoot guy, and he’s got a great handle. Very, very smart. He’s just another one of the typical outstanding freshmen that come through that program over the years.”

Whoever Kentucky plays in the backcourt tonight will be tasked with containing Iverson Molinar. Mississippi State’s star guard was a consensus All-SEC Preseason First-Team selection and recently took home SEC Player of the Week after leading the Bulldogs to wins over Georgia and then-No. 24 Alabama. Molinar has 20+ points in three of his last four games, and against Ole Miss, crossed the 1,000-point mark in his career. You may remember him scoring eight points in the final three minutes of Kentucky’s loss to Mississippi State in last year’s SEC Tournament (ugh). With a limited backcourt, containing Molinar is a priority.

Unprecedented Experience

Howland is used to facing Kentucky teams built around five-star freshmen. While the Cats still have some of those, Howland said Kentucky’s strength this year lies in its veterans.

“I think it’s really unique, that Kentucky team. During the seven years I’ve been in the league, this is by far the oldest they’ve ever been. I think it’s really played to their advantage. [Davion] Mintz being a sixth-year guy, Tshiebwe being a third-year guy, [Kellan] Grady a grad transfer. You have a lot of good players that have very good experience. Wheeler’s a third-year player, a junior. They play seven guys essentially.”

Howland said one player on Kentucky’s roster doesn’t get enough mention (and it’s not the one that roasted Mississippi State twice last year, Dontaie Allen).

“[Jacob] Toppin’s really having a good year,” Howland said. “He’s unheralded. I think Toppin is a very, very good player. Mintz has been playing amazing for them. So they’re really talented and then they have guys like [Lance] Ware that come in and bang around and cause issues because of his toughness and his strength. They’re really having a great year and I think, I’m sure it’s probably been fun for John to have a little more experience to work with instead of just pure freshmen this year.”

Burn you in transition or inside

We saw how not having TyTy slowed the Cats down vs. Auburn. Regardless, Howland is still worried about his team getting burned in transition and on the inside without Smith.

“The biggest test is going to be getting back in transition. They’re so good in transition. If you watch their game against Tennessee for example, they get out and they really run. They find Grady in transition. They’re constantly looking to find him for that quick spot-up three. He’s so good and they’re so good at finding him. They attack the rim. they are great in transition, so that’s the first and foremost.

“Second of all, they have a great inside-outside attack because of Tshiebwe. He forces you to help inside and you can’t handle him one-on-one. You’ve either got to cover down with guards or help with other bigs. He’s just a load in there because of his size and his strength. And they’re great and efficient with their offense. They really do a good job taking good shots. They’re very efficient on both ends of the floor if you look at the KenPom rankings.”