Oscar Tshiebwe says it "wasn't my game" in 20-rebound effort against Mizzou

The SEC’s reigning Player of the Week had arguably his worst offensive outing of the 2021-22 season. That is, if you consider 13 points and 20 rebounds a “down” performance.

Oscar Tshiebwe sure does.

The Kentucky big man–who recently collected several Player of the Week honors for his 14-point, 28-rebound effort against Western Kentucky exactly one week ago–was not impressed with his play in UK’s 83-56 drumming of Missouri on Wednesday night. His fourth 20-rebound outing in 12 games this season wasn’t what bothered him, though.

It was the 2-10 shooting mark from the floor.

“Now, I asked (Tshiebwe) after the game, I said, ‘We could have shot 50% if you — you were 2-for-10, my man, and they were one-footers.’ ‘I know, it wasn’t my game.’ That’s what he said. Wasn’t my game.” UK head coach John Calipari explained after Wednesday’s win. “Well, the next one better be your game.”

The win over Missouri marked just the third time this season that Tshiebwe failed to shoot better than 50 percent from the floor and his first since being held scoreless against Ohio in the fourth game of the season (foul trouble played a role in that one).

Calipari wasn’t exaggerating when he said that Tshiebwe was missing one-footers, either. The Wildcat center shot 2-7 from inside the paint against Mizzou, including a missed putback dunk and two butchered layups. The baseline hook shots he’s been making routinely this season simply weren’t falling. His head coach said after the game that Tshiebwe should have had even more looks that could have helped his percentages, but his teammates kept taking away the opportunities.

“We ran a couple plays for him that other guys shot the ball,” Calipari added. “I said after the game, if I were him, I would say, ‘You know what, boys, you go get 20 rebounds and I’m going go out and be cute and dribble the ball around. You go in there and mix it up like I am.’ When he’s in there and it’s his play, throw him the ball.

“Again, we did some and he missed a bunch today. I thought (Missouri) would trap more. They only trapped once. I would think every team is going to trap him and then they don’t, I don’t understand. But you’re right. He had 20 rebounds. What in the world?“

This is all nit-picking though, really. Tshiebwe still grabbed 20 rebounds, shot 9-10 from the free-throw line, and blocked a pair of shots. Until this type of shooting becomes a concerning trend, one 2-10 game won’t change how he’s viewed.

If Wednesday night is what Tshiebwe describes as “not his game”, then Kentucky fans should feel really good about what it might look like when it is.