Oscar Tshiebwe Added to Notable Watch List Ahead of Pivotal Georgia Game

Oscar Tshiebwe is receiving some affirmation amid his longest slump as a Kentucky Wildcat. The physical center could certainly use a mental pick-me-up ahead of an important late-season road test at Georgia.

Friday morning Tshiebwe made the cut as a Top 10 candidate for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award. He took home the hardware last year as college basketball’s top center. Tshiebwe is averaging 15.5 points and a nation-leading 13.3 rebounds per game, despite recent struggles from the floor.

Oscar was limited to seven points and seven rebounds in the loss to Arkansas. He was also held to just 2-of-14 from the floor against Florida and 4-of-10 at Ole Miss. His teammates are rallying around him in the return trip to Georgia.

“On to the next game,” Antonio Reeves said today. “We talked to him. ‘You’re straight. You’re fine. Just do what you need to do out there. Don’t worry about those bad games.’ He’s fine. I believe he’s in a good mental space right now and he’s connected with us still.”

“The game is 90% mental and right now it’s mental for him,” Jacob Toppin added. “We all know what he can do on the court and how effective he can be. But at times when he catches the ball or things aren’t going his way, it messes with his mind and I try to take him out of that and help him understand that it’s okay. You’re not going to have a good game every game. You are a National Player of the Year and you’ve had many games that you were really great. If you have two bad games, it’s not the end of the world. I tell him that everyday.”

Georgia Provides Oscar Tshiebwe a Bounce Back Opportunity

The last time Kentucky faced off against Georgia, the Dawgs hung tough until Oscar Tshiebwe took over the game in the second half. He posted an historic stat line, 37 points and 24 rebounds, to propel Kentucky to an 85-71 victory. The Wildcats do not need Tshiebwe to repeat that performance, but they need the same old Oscar back in action tomorrow for a must-win at Stegeman Coliseum.

“Yesterday he was in a good mindset,” said Toppin. “We’re prepared for him to have a big night against Georgia because he has a good mindset right now and he’s been in the gym working on what he needs to work on, staying assignment sound on the defensive end in ball screen coverage because we all know that teams are taking advantage of him right now and he’s taken that personally. He’s going to get better at ball screen coverage but it’s not just him. It’s the guards fighting over screens, it’s us on the back side helping out on weak side defense. We’re excited to see what he’s going to do because we know the type of player he’s capable of being.”

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