Oscar Tshiebwe "is not Oscar yet" despite 22-point, 18-rebound performance

Roughly four weeks ago, Oscar Tshiebwe had arthroscopic surgery on his knee. Ever since, he’s been experiencing regular swelling and his playing status was still unclear heading into the week. Initially expected to be sidelined for six weeks, the reigning national player of the year came back a bit early for Kentucky’s showdown against Michigan State on Tuesday night in Indianapolis. Despite not being 100 percent healthy yet, Tshiebwe still looked like the favorite to repeat as the nation’s best player.

Although it came in a double-overtime loss to the Michigan State Spartans, Tshiebwe was magnificent in his first game for UK since the Bahamas trip. The 6-foot-9 big man came off the bench and dominated, finishing with 22 points (9-17 shooting), 18 rebounds, and four blocks before fouling out near the end of the first overtime. It was a typical Tshiebwe performance in every way: feasting on the glass and pounding the ball inside.

“For Oscar to do what we did without playing for four weeks and have a practice, come on, that’s ridiculous,” Kentucky head coach John Calipari said after the loss. “He had some turnovers, there were a couple of things I thought he could have kicked out but come on man, he can’t do everything.”

He nearly did everything, too. The only knock on Tshiebwe’s game was his five turnovers, which you can chalk up to him not practicing with his teammates for a whole month if you’re feeling friendly. But when he went out, Kentucky fell apart on offense. If nothing was happening late in the shot clock, the ball was dumped to Tshiebwe for a bail-out attempt that typically yielded positive results. In the second overtime, where UK was outscored 15-6, there was no last-ditch option for the ‘Cats and the end result highlighted it.

“I don’t think it was difficult, obviously it was different because of what Oscar brings but that’s part of what our culture here is next man up,” Sahvir Wheeler said of the offense once Tshiebwe fouled out. “It was different, but I wouldn’t say it was difficult.”

In this instance, difficult and different actually share the same meaning. Wheeler’s right in that it was absolutely different with Tshiebwe not out there, but that’s exactly what made it so difficult for the rest of the team. There was zero rhythm in the second overtime.

Tshiebwe certainly didn’t expect to play 34 minutes in his return either, and Calipari would have ultimately preferred he didn’t, but he was needed for the exact reasons outlined above. Without him in the game, the offense nearly shut down entirely. Tshiebwe acknowledged that after the fact.

“That was (Calipari’s) decision. I went through rehab and everything was good. The doctor released me to play, so it was up to Coach,” Tshiebwe said of the decision to play against MSU. “We came out today he told me I was just going to play a little bit but obviously the game was really tough and I had to play.”

He indeed had to play, too. Of the 10 Wildcats who saw the floor, only three finished with a positive plus/minus. Tshiebwe’s +10 was easily the highest on the team. If you’re looking for a silver lining from another Champions Classic loss, Tshiebwe is it. He’s still the best player in the country with room to improve his health.

“Let’s face it, Oscar — and let’s make sure we keep this somewhat human — Oscar is not Oscar yet,” Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said of Tshiebwe after the game. “He just comes back after missing and had the knee injury.”

“Feel really good, really good. No pain, no anything,” Tshiebwe added.