Five things you need to know from Kentucky’s 77-59 win over Ohio University
Five things you need to know from the Kentucky Wildcats’ 77-59 win over the Ohio University Bobcats at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center:
1. Different stars lift Cats. Against the second-best team Kentucky has so far faced in 2021-22, UK star Oscar Tshiebwe spent 18:54 of the first half on the bench after drawing two fouls in the first 1:06 of the game.
The Wildcats’ third-leading scorer entering the game, wing Kellan Grady (12 ppg), went scoreless.
Point guard Sahvir Wheeler, another of UK’s early-season stars, was just so-so based on the standard of his prior play this year, finishing with 11 points, four assists and three turnovers.
Yet Kentucky won going away over a veteran Ohio team whose nucleus was back from the squad that upset Virginia in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
UK did so because it had new faces step into star turns.
Junior forward Keion Brooks all but single-handedly brought the mid-range jumper back. Draining an array of 14- to 17-foot jumpers, Brooks went for 22 points.
Freshman guard TyTy Washington performed like the star his recruiting profile suggests he can be with 20 points and team-highs of 12 rebounds and five assists.
With Grady struggling, old friend Davion Mintz came off the bench to spark the Cats with 12 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
When foul trouble and hot Ohio shooting had Kentucky on the ropes early, freshman Bryce Hopkins helped steady the Cats with seven points and seven rebounds in 14 minutes of play.
Put it all together, and Kentucky passed an early-season test of overcoming an upset-minded, veteran foe on a night when UK’s top players so far this season were not at their best.
Nevertheless, UK found a lot of answers.
2. Zebras sideline a lion. Oscar Tshiebwe’s chance to extend his streak of three double-doubles to start his UK career was compromised by two quick foul calls.
The West Virginia transfer was whistled for a foul defending Ohio’s Jason Carter 41 seconds into the game.
He then was called for a moving screen 1:06 into the contest.
As is his custom, John Calipari then had a player with two fouls wait until after halftime to return.
Tshiebwe, averaging 18.3 points and 18.7 rebounds entering the game, had no points and no boards at intermission.
In half two, the 6-foot-9, 255-pound product of the Democratic Republic of Congo never got untracked offensively and failed to score in the game.
But, amazingly, he extended his double-digit rebounding run to four games by grabbing 10 in half two.
Tshiebwe’s season rebounding average now stands at 16.5.
3. The Oscar influence? Maybe Tshiebwe’s relentlessness on the glass is contagious.
Even with the big man limited to 20 minutes of game action, UK hammered Ohio 53-17 on the glass.
In addition to Washington’s 11 boards and Tshiebwe’s 10, Mintz went for nine, Brooks 8, Hopkins 7 and Wheeler 6.
That dominance off the glass allowed UK to win the second-chance points 17-6 and helped the Cats overcome a minus-10 turnover ratio (15 UK miscues compared to five for the visiting Bobcats).
4. Bombs-Away Bobcats. Entering the game, Ohio had made great use of the three-point line.
In the season’s first three games, all victories, the Bobcats took an average of 32 treys a game and were averaging 12 makes.
Extending its defense, Kentucky held Ohio to 24 three-point tries and eight makes.
UK needed to slow Ohio down from behind the arc because the Cats only hit three of 13 themselves.
5. Big-picture numbers. In the John Calipari coaching era (since 2009-10), Kentucky is now 191-17 in Rupp Arena.
Under Calipari, UK is now 100-3 against teams from outside the seven major men’s basketball conferences — the football Power Five plus the Big East and the American Athletic Conference.
The victory restores Kentucky’s advantage over Kansas in the all-time men’s hoops wins race to four games — UK 2,330, KU 2,326.
Kentucky’s next game is Monday night vs. Albany.
Kansas will next play on Thanksgiving Day against North Texas in the ESPN Events Invitational in Orlando, Fla.
This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 8:59 PM.
