Will, motor, effort, heart send Kentucky into a merry Christmas break
To explain the 95-60 victory Wednesday night, Kentucky players used words like “incredible”, “crazy” and “amazing.”
Individual performances could have been Exhibit A and B in making that case.
Oscar Tshiebwe grabbed 28 rebounds, which broke the Rupp Arena record set by Shaquille O’Neal in UK’s 100-95 victory over his LSU team on Feb. 15, 1990. It was the most rebounds by a UK player since Mike Phillips grabbed 28 against Tennessee in Memorial Coliseum on Jan. 10, 1976.
Tshiebwe, who came into the game with the best rebound average in Division I (14.2 per game), outrebounded Western Kentucky single-handedly. The Hilltoppers had 27 rebounds.
“That’s crazy,” Tshiebwe said.
Kellan Grady, who followed up his 5-for-7 three-point shooting against North Carolina on Saturday by making six of nine shots from beyond the arc, was impressed.
“Incredible,” he said. “Just his will and his motor and his effort and his heart, it just becomes contagious.”
Kentucky outrebounded Western Kentucky 31-7 in the second half. Tshiebwe contributed 17 of those boards.
Tshiebwe’s vertical leap is not among the top five on the Kentucky team. So, he was asked how he does it.
“I’m not the tallest guy,” he said. “But I think I have a big heart. … God says everything is possible. When you go for it, you’re going to get it. … When I stop fighting is when the game is up. I don’t care about points. I just want to go out there and get the rebounds.”
The UK record is 34 rebounds, shared by Bob Burrow (against Temple on Dec. 10, 1955) and Bill Spivey (against Xavier on Feb. 13, 1951).
When asked if he could break that record, Tshiebwe said, “Right now, I’m thinking day by day. It is what it is. With the God I trust, I think I can go for that. I hope Coach Cal doesn’t take me out.”
Tshiebwe’s work seemed finished when UK Coach John Calipari took him out of the game down the stretch. A 21-2 run early in the second half settled matters.
But with 4:18 left and Kentucky ahead by 25 points, Calipari sent Tshiebwe back in.
When asked why, the UK coach said he was unhappy with how the backups were playing.
“I’m not settling for that,” Calipari said. “There’s a high standard here. I think you have to hold (players) accountable.”
Grady fueled the decisive 21-2 run. With a one-time 16-point lead down to 37-33, he hit a three. Then after Sahvir Wheeler made a floater, Grady made another three and then a floater.
Grady finished with a game-high 23 points. His 11-for-16 three-point shooting in the last two games mirrored UK’s startling improvement as a team. Since making two of 19 three-point shots at Notre Dame, the Cats made nearly half of their attempts (17 of 35) from beyond the arc.
Notre Dame completed a four-game stretch for Grady in which he made only six of 23 three-point shots.
Calipari attributed Grady’s vast improvement to being more assertive and not passing up shots.
Grady noted that at Davidson, the offense often called for patience. It’s an adjustment.
“Whether there’s 26 or two seconds on the (shot) clock, I’m supposed to shoot it,” he said. Calipari said he is trying to get Davion Mintz to make a similar adjustment. Mintz made only one of four shots (one of three from beyond the arc). That made him six for 27 (four of 19 on threes) in the last four games.
Kentucky improved to 9-2.
Western Kentucky, which was coming off a victory over Louisville on Saturday, fell to 8-5.
Afterward Coach Rick Stansbury basically said the better team won.
“Today, they were the best team in America,” he said. “Some things we didn’t do as well as we needed to do to have a chance. They had a lot to do with that. But we had no answers to too many weapons.”
Stansbury cited Wheeler’s speed as a factor in wearing down the Hilltoppers.
“Give them credit,” the WKU coach said. “Sometimes the other team is just better. And they were just better today. In every area.”
For Kentucky, the victory continued a surge that followed the discouraging loss at Notre Dame.
To explain the improvement, Grady said, “I think we had a chip on our shoulder. When the season is over, we’ll look back on that game.”
Calipari saluted the different type of team he has this season.
“I’ve got a very, very smart basketball team,” he said. “And this is crazy (but) I’ve got some older guys who understand how to be engaged. They know because they’ve played.”
Now, Kentucky takes a break.
“It’s a great way to go into Christmas,” Calipari said. “Back-to-back (victories) with truly good games with good energy.”
Next game
Missouri at No. 20 Kentucky
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 29
TV: SEC Network
This story was originally published December 22, 2021 at 10:21 PM.
