Oscar Tshiebwe named to Naismith Player of the Year Midseason Team

On3 image — Photo by Aaron Perkins/Kentucky Sports Radio

Oscar Tshiebwe’s push for Naismith Trophy Player of the Year honors took yet another step forward when the Kentucky star center was named to the award’s Midseason Team on Thursday. Tshiebwe is one of 30 players to make the team, a list comprised of prime candidates to win the National Player of the Year honor.

Tshiebwe’s addition on the Naismith Trophy Midseason Team is one of three Player of the Year awards he’s in the running for, joining the Lute Olson Watch List and the John R. Wooden Award Midseason Watch List. He’s also been named to The Sporting News and The Athletic Midseason All-America Teams, while also being named a finalist for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year and the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, which honors the nation’s best center.

Tshiebwe leads the country in rebounds per game (15.1), offensive rebounds per game (5.0) and defensive rebounding percentage (36.0%). With five games of 20 or more rebounds, he has tied Blake Griffin and Tim Duncan for the most by a major-conference player since 1996-97. His current stretch of 11 consecutive double-figure rebound games is the longest for a Wildcat since 1969-70 (Dan Issel, 12 games).

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The standout center has racked up 363 total rebounds on the year, 71 more than the next closest player. He leads the Wildcats in scoring (15.9), rebounding (15.1), steals (1.9), blocks (1.5) and field-goal percentage (60.2%). Should he continue this pace to close out the year, Tshiebwe will become the first Division I player to average at least 15.0 points and 15.0 rebounds per game since Drake’s Lewis Lloyd and Alcorn State’s Larry Smith each did during the 1979-80 season.

Tshiebwe is on pace to become the first UK player since Ed Beck in 1956-57 to average at least 14.0 rebounds per game. Bob Burrow holds the single-season record of 17.7 rebounds per game, which was set back in 1954-55. Anthony Davis (2012) and Julius Randle (2014) are the only two players to average double-figure rebounds in a season under John Calipari at 10.4 per game each.

Tshiebwe will almost certainly be the third.

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