Oscar Tshiebwe Responds with Dominant Performance in "Rough House" Game

It was a tale of two games for Oscar Tshiebwe against Florida. When the Gators amped up the intensity inside, he was at his best, often times away from the basket.

“That was a rough house game,” John Calipari said Wednesday night. “Florida never stopped playing and they were gritty as hell.”

So was Oscar Tshiebwe. The last time he faced the Gators, Kentucky’s reigning National Player of the Year was just 2-of-14 from the field. He flipped the script in Gainesville by knocking down 12-of-13 shots to score 25 points.

According to ESPN Stats and Info, his 92% FG is the highest by a Kentucky player in a 25-point game over the last 25 seasons. It was his third career 25-point game against the Gators. He’s the only UK player to post 25+ points against the same opponent three times in the last 25 years.

Oscar Tshiebwe Capitalizes on Castleton’s Absence

Unlike the first matchup this season against Florida, Colin Castleton was not Tshiebwe’s primary adversary. Oscar smelled blood in the water.

“The first game was a battle. For him not being out there it was very tough for them because they did not have a shot-blocker. That’s why I had to just go play big,” Tshiebwe said after the win.

He played big inside, but not in the way we’re accustomed to seeing. He did not dominate the glass, grabbing just four boards while Chris Livingston and Jacob Toppin combined for 26 rebounds. Oscar also did not score all of his points in the post. Tshiebwe stepped out and knocked down more than handful of midrange jump shots, something he’s worked on in practice.

“The basketball has changed. The way they play me down there, they triple (team) me. Now it just opens up and they’re giving me space to shoot,” said Oscar Tshiebwe. “I spent more time in the gym doing that. I’m getting into the game with more confidence and it’s going in.”

Moving forward, John Calipari anticipates we’ll see the Kentucky big man play more from the outside.

“That’s one of the things that he can do. What happened early in the season, he wasn’t making them. Now he had an operation. He was out four weeks, he was out of kilter a little bit, so he missed a bunch of those. But now he’s making them,” Calipari said.

“If you just put him near the basket, he’s got three guys around him and it’s a slugfest. It’s not fair to him, so we’re trying to bring him up so that he’s up and down both. Start him up to push him down, screen across do some stuff.”

If Oscar Tshiebwe continues to score in a variety of ways, the Cats are going to be an awfully tough out in the postseason.