Oscar Tshiebwe gives Kentucky basketball teammates hope for turnaround

The Kentucky Wildcats basketball program has great promise for a turnaround after a historic performance from senior Oscar Tshiebwe. 

The Kentucky Wildcats haven’t gotten off to the greatest of starts in the 2022-23 season, specifically in conference games. Entering Tuesday night, the Wildcats were 2-3 against SEC opponents, and they faced off against a Georgia Bulldogs team that was 3-1 versus in-conference teams. The good thing for Kentucky is that they had senior forward Oscar Tshiebwe on their roster.

Kentucky defeated Georgia by the score of 85-71 on Tuesday night, thanks in part to an incredible performance by Tshiebwe. The senior forward scored 37 points while shooting 12-for-20 from the field and 13-of-18 from the free throw line, and hauled in 24 rebounds.

Tshiebwe is now the first Kentucky player to have a 30-point, 25-rebound game since Mike Phillips did back on Feb. 2, 1976, almost 47 years ago.

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Oscar Tshiebwe has historic nights for Kentucky Wildcats

The history isn’t done just there, as Tshiebwe is now just the fourth Division I player in the past 25 seasons to record 35 points and 23 rebounds. The other players to do so are Brice Johnson of North Carolina, Blake Griffin of Oklahoma, and Kevin Durant of Texas. Not bad company, to say the least.

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His 24 rebounds are the second-most he recorded in a game, trailing his 28-rebound performance on Dec. 22, 2021 against Western Kentucky.

Tshiebwe’s big game made the team that much more confident in their ability to win games.

“Man, he played like a beast today,” said senior guard Antonio Reeves, h/t On3 Sports. “That’s the Oscar we’ve been waiting for, for real. He just went out there and was the old Oscar, man. He was down there getting every rebound, putbacks, and dunking it. That is what we needed.”

Freshman guard Carson Wallace shared similar sentiments as Reeves.

“It brought a lot of energy to us, him getting and-1s and making free throws,” said Wallace, h/t Courier Journal. “We came into a huddle like, ‘Just throw it to (Tshiebwe).’ Everybody was on the same page.”

This season, Tshiebwe is averaging 17.3 points, 13.8 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game, all the while shooting 58.0-percent fro the field.

The Wildcats will look to extend their winning streak to three games on Saturday, Jan. 21 when they play the Texas A&M Aggies.