Oscar Tshiebwe's dominance now a regular occurence for Kentucky

We’re beginning to run out of superlatives for Oscar Tshiebwe.

His game-by-game dominance is almost expected at this point by both his team and the Kentucky fanbase. Every passing double-double loses its luster a bit, only because it’s happening so often. Watching him grab 20 rebounds in back-to-back outings was incredible. But now with a 28-rebound game under his belt, anything below that feels almost underwhelming.

His most recent outing was a perfect example of how Tshiebwe has turned a record-performing season into a regular occurrence. The 6-foot-9 West Virginia transfer dropped a career-high 29 points and 17 rebounds in a win over the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday night, shooting 13-21 from the floor while blocking two shots, as well.

On any other night for any other team, he’d be the talk of college basketball. But TyTy Washington broke the school record for assists in a single game with 17. Davion Mintz played his best basketball game of the season thus far, and maybe of his Kentucky career. Tshiebwe put up the best overall stat line, but he was arguably third in the pecking order of headlines.

That might just be the biggest compliment he could ever receive though. 29 points and 17 rebounds is a hell of a game no matter the competition; Tshiebwe did it against an SEC school. He’s the first Wildcat to record those numbers since Jamal Mashburn all the way back in 1992. And yet, it flew slightly under-the-radar.

Tshiebwe’s performance against Georgia was a necessary bounceback from the beating he suffered at the hands of the LSU defense on Tuesday. He still hauled in 13 rebounds, but played with first-half foul trouble and finished with just eight points. Kentucky had a tough time feeding him the ball and Tshiebwe wasn’t nearly as effective around the rim as he had been throughout the season.

Abusing Georgia was an easy way to keep his mind on the proper course.

“What I told him today at the shootaround was don’t worry about two months from now. That will screw you up,” UK head coach John Calipari said after beating Georgia. “Worry about how you have been playing. How did you get to this point? What did you do to get to this point? How about this? Keep doing it. Why would you do something different? Just do what you are doing. Stay in the moment. Have fun.”

Tshiebwe didn’t have much fun in a hostile road environment against LSU, but he sure did get back to doing so inside of Rupp Arena. He’s still on pace to become the first college basketball player in the modern era to average 15 points and 15 rebounds throughout an entire season. He’s currently posting 15.2 points and 15.1 rebounds per outing on 61.7 percent shooting.

What else is there to say about Tshiebwe at this point? He’s as close to a rebounding machine as anyone will ever see on a basketball court. His offensive game continues to bloom. The smile is infectious. Player of the Year buzz is only going to keep growing…