Oscar Tshiebwe determined to win Round 3 vs. Colin Castleton

Tomorrow night’s game vs. Florida is big, and it could come down to a battle of the bigs. Colin Castleton leads Florida in scoring (15.1), rebounding (7.7), blocked shots (68), and free throws made (89). He’s also tied with Trey Bonham for first on the team in steals (21). The 6’11” center was the star of the Gators’ upset of No. 2 Tennessee on Wednesday, finishing with 20 points — 16 in the second half — nine rebounds, and three assists.

Last year, Oscar Tshiebwe got the best of Castleton in Kentucky’s two wins over the Gators, posting a combined 54 points and 33 rebounds to Castleton’s 41 points and 18 rebounds. Today, Oscar told reporters he’s determined to also win round three.

“The big man is good. He’s good. He can play but I have so much respect for him but I don’t fear him. I don’t fear him. He’s coming to my hometown, he’s coming to my house. He’s going to have to fight but I’m not just going to let him come do whatever he wants. We’re going to have to fight.

Florida has won six of its last seven SEC games. The Gators rank eighth in defensive efficiency nationally on KenPom, holding opponents to 36.3% from the field and 23.8% from three-point range. Tennessee was only 27.9% from the field and 20% from three on Wednesday night. Oscar knows that coming off a big win and fighting to make the NCAA Tournament, the Gators will give the Cats their best shot tomorrow night.

“Every team is good, every team we play. We’ve just got to fight. If you don’t fight — like, Tennessee lost [to Florida]. Tennessee is a good team. They lost to them. I don’t know. They think they are good. They go play against somebody but the people are ready for them. That’s why we have to be ready against everybody.”

Sahvir Wheeler agreed.

“They came off a really good, really big-time win, beating Tennessee at home so we know they’re going to come out and play hard, play with some intensity,” Wheeler told reporters today. “And they’ve been known to have some really good starts. They’ve had some games where they were up 20-6. To be in the game, playing against us, we’re kind of expecting that to kind of happen again, for them to play really good. Same thing at Ole Miss, where it seemed like they made every shot to start the game.”

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.

Sahvir Wheeler on overcoming slow starts

If Florida tends to start games strong, Kentucky, well, does the opposite. For the most part, the Cats have been able to dig themselves out of holes this season. Recently, Antonio Reeves has been a big part of that, coming off the bench to ignite the offense. Wheeler said Kentucky’s resiliency is one of its strengths so far.

“The first five or six minutes to a game, that’s all according to plan. We script that out. We run this, we want to see how they react to that. We’re going to get these plays, these shots, and as the course of a game goes along, we start to adjust and players have to start making plays. For us, we just fight through it. Keep fighting, keep playing the way we’re playing and at some point, there’s going to be a time when some team’s going to have to let go of the rope. Most of the time, that’s them. We make our run, play together, and win games.”

Wheeler said players have an active role in making those adjustments.

“It’s super exciting and most of the time it comes from the players. There have been times when different guys on our team have come into the huddle and said different things, like, ‘Yo, this is open, this is available,’ ‘They’re kind of tight right now, let’s really push the gas a little bit. They can’t run with us, their speed can’t match with us, Let’s get out in transition, let’s move it,’ or ‘Hey, they can’t guard Oscar, let’s just throw it in there, throw it in there.’

“So, you know, at different points of the season, different games, every player has had that moment where they’ve done that and it’s really empowering and rewarding to know that you can’t do that and coach is willing to follow that and we go out there and execute that.”