Oscar Tshiebwe leads Oscar Robertson Trophy midseason watch list

It’s midseason watch list season, and to absolutely no one’s surprise, Oscar Tshiebwe is one of the top 50 candidates for the Oscar Robertson Trophy, given annually to the best player in college basketball. Of course, Oscar took home the Oscar Robertson Trophy — and every other national player of the year award — last year.

Oscar isn’t just one of 50 players on the watch list (five from the SEC), there are two paragraphs dedicated to him in the corresponding press release from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. (They must have gotten the memo about Oscar TshiebDAY.) Despite a relatively slow start to the season, Oscar leads the nation in rebounding (13.8 per game) and offensive rebounding (5.6 per game) with a Southeastern Conference-leading 11 double-doubles. Tuesday night’s 37-point, 24-rebound performance vs. Georgia confirmed he’s back to 110%, a great sign for the Cats headed into the second half of the season.

At the conclusion of the regular season, the entire USBWA membership will vote for the award. The winner will be announced at the 2023 Men’s Final Four in Houston with the formal presentation to follow at the annual USBWA Awards Luncheon hosted by the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis.

Oscar could become the first Oscar Robertson Trophy repeat winner since Virginia’s Ralph Sampson won the award three straight seasons (1981-83). Only Sampson, UCLA’s Bill Walton (1972-74), LSU’s Pete Maravich (1969-70), UCLA’s Lew Alcindor (1967-68), Ohio State’s Jerry Lucas (1961-62), and the award’s namesake, Oscar Robertson (1959-60) have won the award multiple times.

Toppin, Livingston on competing with Oscar for rebounds

It’s been two days since Oscar’s ridiculous performance vs. Georgia. After the game, Cason Wallace and Antonio Reeves shared their takes on Oscar with reporters. Today, Jacob Toppin and Chris Livingston did the same. Like his fellow newcomers, Livingston said seeing Oscar take over a game firsthand was surreal.

“He put up video game numbers,” the freshman said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Both Livingston and Toppin joked that trying to get a rebound vs. Oscar is harder than trying to get one from an opponent.

“Last game, he tried to take my rebound like five times,” Toppin said. “He had 20 rebounds. I go for a rebound, he takes it from me. I’m like, ‘Yo, you have 20 rebounds. Let me get a rebound.'”

“He takes about one or two rebounds from me a game,” Livingston said. “It’s definitely difficult. We laugh about it after the games all the time. Oscar is a monster. That performance is crazy. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List

• Max Abmas, Oral Roberts (6-0, 175, Sr. G, Rockwall, Texas)
• Tyree Appleby, Wake Forest (6-0. 175, Gr., G, Jacksonville, Ark.)
• Armando Bacot, North Carolina (6-11, 235, Sr. F/C, Richmond, Va.)
• Oumar Ballo, Arizona (7-0, 260, Jr.,. C, Koulikoro, Mali)
• Souley Boum, Xavier (6-3, 175, Gr., G, Oakland, Calif.)
• Jordan Brown, Louisiana (6-11, 225, Jr., F, Roseville, Calif.)
• Kobe Brown, Missouri (6-8, 250, Sr., G/F, Huntsville, Ala.)
• Marcus Carr, Texas (6-2, 175, Gr., G, Toronto, Ont.)
• Jaylen Clark, UCLA (6-5, 205, Jr., G, Riverside, Calif.)
• Josh Cohen, St. Francis (Pa.) (6-10, 220, Jr., F, Lincroft, N.J.)
• Yuri Collins, Saint Louis (6-0, 190, Jr., G, St. Louis, Mo.)
• Ricky Council IV, Arkansas (6-6, 205, Jr., G, Durham, N.C.)
• Antoine Davis, Detroit Mercy (6-1, 165, Gr., G, Birmingham, Ala.)
• Kendric Davis, Memphis (6-0, 177, Sr., G, Houston, Texas)
• Gradey Dick, Kansas (6-8, 205, Fr., G, Wichita, Kan.)
• Hunter Dickinson, Michigan (7-1, 260, Jr., C, Alexandria, Va.)
• Jordan Dingle, Penn (6-3, 195, Jr., G, Valley Stream, N.Y.)
• Zach Edey, Purdue (7-4, 305, Jr., C, Toronto, Ont.)
• Kyle Filipowski, Duke (7-0, 230, Fr., C,  Westtown, N.Y.)
• Adam Flagler, Baylor (6-3, 185, Sr., G, Duluth, Ga.)
• Keyonte George, Baylor (6-4, 185, Fr., G, Lewisville, Texas)
• DaRon Holmes II, Dayton (6-10, 231, So., F, Goodyear, Ariz.)
• Bryce Hopkins, Providence (6-7, 220, So., F/G, Oak Park, Ill.)
• Jaelen House, New Mexico (6-0, 170, Sr., G, Phoenix, Ariz.)
• Trayce Jackson-Davis, Indiana (6-9, 245, Jr., F, Greenwood, Ind.)
• Jaime Jaquez Jr., UCLA (6-7, 225, Sr., G/F,  Camarillo, Calif.)
• Keyontae Johnson, Kansas State (6-6, 230, Sr., F,  Norfolk, Va.)
• Ryan Kalkbrenner, Creighton (7-1, 260, Jr., C, Florissant, Mo.)
• Taevion Kinsey, Marshall (6-5, 191, Sr., G, Columbus, Ohio)
• Caleb Love, North Carolina (6-4, 200, Jr., G, St. Louis, Mo.)
• Mike Miles Jr., TCU (6-2, 195, Jr., G,  Highland Hills, Texas)
• Brandon Miller, Alabama (6-9, 200, Fr., F, Antioch, Tenn.)
• Kris Murray, Iowa (6-8, 220, Jr. F, Cedar Rapids, Iowa)
• Jameer Nelson Jr., Delaware (6-1, 200, Jr., G, Haverford, Pa.)
• Markquis Nowell, Kansas State (5-8, 160, Sr., G, Harlem, N.Y.)
• Jalen Pickett, Penn State (6-4, 209, Sr., G, Rochester, N.Y.)
• Marcus Sasser, Houston (6-2, 195, Sr., G, Dallas, Texas)
• Terrence Shannon Jr., Illinois (6-6, 225, Sr., G, Chicago, Ill.)
• Terquavion Smith, NC State (6-4, 165, So., G,  Greenville, N.C.)
• Adama Sonogo, Connecticut (6-9, 245, Jr., F, Bamako, Mali)
• Joel Soriano, St. John’s (6-11, 280, Sr., C, Yonkers, N.Y.)
• Jake Stephens, Chattanooga (7-0, 275, Gr., C, Bunker Hill, W. Va.)
• Drew Timme, Gonzaga (6-10, 235, Sr., F, Richardson, Texas)
• Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky (6-9, 260, Sr., F, Lubumbashi, Congo)
• Azuolas Tubelis, Arizona (6-11, 245, Jr., F, Vilnius, Lithuania)
• Hunter Tyson, Clemson (6-8, 217, Gr., F, Monroe, N.C.)
• Jordan Walker, UAB (5-11, 170, Sr., G, Long Island, N.Y.)
• KJ Williams, LSU (6-10, 250, Sr., F, Cleveland, Miss.)
• Jalen Wilson, Kansas (6-8, 225, Jr., F, Denton, Texas)
• Isaiah Wong, Miami (6-4, 184, Jr., G, Piscataway, N.J.)

By conference: Big 12 8, Atlantic Coast 7, Big Ten 6, Big East 5, SEC 5, Pac-12 4, American Athletic 2, Atlantic 10 2, Sun Belt 2, Colonial Athletic 1, Conference USA 1, Horizon 1, Ivy 1, Mountain West 1, Northeast 1, Southern 1, Summit 1, West Coast 1.