Tshiebwe stars again, but poor 3-point shooting costs Kentucky at Notre Dame
Kentucky big man Oscar Tshiebwe impressed Notre Dame center Paul Atkinson Jr. on Saturday night.
Atkinson compared Tshiebwe favorably with Illinois center Kofi Cockburn, who might be the most dominant big man in the Big Ten if not all of college basketball.
“They’re both really dominant post guys,” said Atkinson, who competed against both thanks to Notre Dame’s demanding schedule. “Kofi is bigger. He’s a big dude (at) 7-1, 285. But this guy (Tshiebwe) is just as big and I think his touch is even better.”
Tshiebwe played the part against Notre Dame. He scored a career-high 25 points. Although he grabbed less than 10 rebounds for the first time this season with “only” seven (just one in the second half), he equaled a career high with three steals in Kentucky’s 66-62 loss.
More than ever this season, Tshiebwe answered the call to be a consistent and effective postup scorer.
He posted effectively against Southern on Tuesday. But that was against, uh, Southern, and most baskets came against smaller defenders who had switched onto him. With Notre Dame, Tshiebwe wheeled and dealed against a pair of 6-foot-10 players, Nate Laszewski and Atkinson.
“Just spending time in the gym,” Tshiebwe said when asked to explain the sudden post-up prowess. “Before practice, I spend 30 (or) 40 minutes with Coach Orlando (Antigua) getting the hook shots. Like (UK Coach John Calipari) says, we need (to play) post basketball.”
So, why didn’t this translate into a Kentucky victory? One answer (or is that 17 answers?) was UK making only two of 19 three-point shots.
This freed Notre Dame’s defense to limit Kentucky’s drives to the basket and prevent Tshiebwe from being even more dominant.
Notre Dame Coach Mike Brey saw it as key to his team’s win.
“If you give up four threes, you lose,” Brey said. If Tshiebwe passes to open teammates on the perimeter “and they make a couple threes, we’re not going to score enough to win.”
Kentucky, which fell to 7-2, brought in several transfers noted for three-point shooting.
When asked if the 2-for-19 three-point shooting at Notre Dame was a fluke, Calipari said, “Let’s hope it’s a fluke.”
It seems more accurate to say it fits a recent pattern. In the last four games, Kentucky has made 21 of 90 three-point shots (23.3 percent). For the season, UK has shot with 30.2-percent accuracy from beyond the arc (52 of 172).
Calipari seemed more perturbed by Tshiebwe not getting the ball more in the final minutes of a possession-by-possession struggle. His last basket came with 3:26 to go. Unofficially, he only took one more shot.
“I think we got guys that try, ‘I want to make the play,’” Calipari said. “We can’t be that team.”
Calipari panned UK’s guard play as “not good.” UK had a season-low nine assists. The UK coach suggested a season-low five turnovers reflected a passive approach to the game.
“That makes me feel we weren’t aggressive enough,” he said.
Calipari did not spare himself. He second-guessed not calling a timeout to set up a scoring opportunity after Notre Dame went ahead on freshman Blake Wesley’s basket from the lane with 11.7 seconds left.
UK freshman TyTy Washington rushed down and forced up a contested shot that did not come close to going in the basket.
“That’s on me,” Calipari said. “I’m still learning about this team.”
Usually, he lets the team attempt to score against an unsettled defense, he said. “Maybe not with this team.”
Calipari also wondered about Kellan Grady taking an open three-pointer from the corner inside the final 90 seconds with the score tied at 62-62. The shot seemed on target, but it spun out.
Maybe it would have been better to try for a post-up basket by Tshiebwe, he said.
Calipari spoke of suspecting UK players “froze” down the stretch of their first test of the nerves since the opener against Duke.
“I think they played not to lose, so now you’re frozen,” he said of the Cats. “You’re hoping (the opponents) miss versus you make them lose because you’re playing to win.”
Meanwhile, Notre Dame, came into the game with insufficient confidence.
For the Irish, the game was a tonic.
That Wesley, a native of South Bend, made the winning shot made the triumph all the sweeter.
“It’s kind of like storybook, right?” Brey said.
No doubt, the crowd that stormed the court after the game savored the South Bend native making the winning shot, plus the induction of former Irish star LaPhonso Ellis being added to the arena’s Ring of Honor, plus the introduction of new football coach Marcus Freeman.
Brey summed up Notre Dame’s take on the game by saying, “You couldn’t draw it up any better.”
Next game
No. 10 Kentucky vs. No. 21 Ohio State
What: CBS Sports Classic
Where: T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.
When: 5:15 p.m. Saturday
TV: CBS-27
Records: UK 7-2; Ohio State 8-2
This story was originally published December 11, 2021 at 11:27 PM.
