Ugonna Onyenso wants to block 10 shots in a single game

Ugonna Onyenso is playing meaningful minutes for Kentucky early into SEC play, especially in the last two games. Against Texas A&M and Mississippi State, Onyenso answered John Calipari’s call for rebounding and rim protection. He grabbed ten rebounds and blocked five shots in College Station last Saturday while more than doubling his season-high in minutes (32) due to Aaron Bradshaw‘s foul trouble. Onyenso played only 17 minutes Wednesday night against Mississippi State. Still, he made a significant impact on the game by blocking four shots and matching Bradshaw on the boards with a team-high six rebounds.

“He was good today,” said John Calipari in his postgame comments. 

Later, Calipari told Tom Leach and the fans who stuck around for the postgame radio interview that he went to Onyenso because Bradshaw wasn’t playing well defensively. “Ugo’s in, and how did Ugo play?” Calipari asked. “Whoa! You think Aaron will do that to start a half again? No.”

As the game’s MVP, Onyenso also had a turn to speak on the postgame radio show. He made the most of that opportunity, confessing to Jack Givens and the Big Blue Nation that he is chasing double-digit blocks in a single game.

“Whatever it takes to help the team,” Onyenso said before revealing his personal goal. “The thing is, the reason I’m locked into the game is I’m not really worried about the offense… For me, blocking shots, it feels different for me… I want to get to double-digit blocked shots. I want double digits.”

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That accomplishment has only been done once before by a Kentucky Wildcat when Nerlens Noel swatted a school-record 12 at Ole Miss in 2013. Willie Cauley-Stein came close twice the following season with two nine-block games in the 2013-14 season. Andre Riddick and Sam Bowie also blocked nine shots in a single game.

Earlier in the Calipari era, Anthony Davis shattered the school record for blocks in a single season, but his single-game best was eight, which he did twice. Isaiah Jackson also had an eight-block game in 2020-21, as did Riddick in 1993-94 and Patrick Patterson in 2008-09. (BigBlueHistory.net with the numbers.)

Can Onyenso join the club? He wants it, and his shot-blocking is improving each game.