The legend of Oscar Tshiebwe gets another stirring chapter — with an unhappy ending
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Game day: Michigan State 86, No. 4 Kentucky 77 (2OT)
Click below for more of the Herald-Leader’s and Kentucky.com’s coverage of Tuesday night’s men’s basketball game between Kentucky and Michigan State in Indianapolis.
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Oscar Tshiebwe’s remarkable Kentucky story added another memorable chapter Tuesday night.
After missing four weeks of practice and UK’s first two men’s basketball games of 2022-23, the reigning national player of the year made his season debut on a big stage against a Michigan State program long known for its commitment to physical defense.
In his first game back after undergoing a surgical procedure on his right knee, all Tshiebwe did was drop 22 points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots on Tom Izzo’s Spartans.
The stirring story of “Oscar’s Return” had everything a Wildcats backer could have wanted — except a happy ending.
Kentucky suffered more heartache in Indianapolis, falling to Michigan State 86-79 in double overtime in the State Farm Champions Classic at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The No. 4 Wildcats were beaten after losing the lead late in both regulation and the first OT.
“We were discombobulated at times,” Kentucky Coach John Calipari said of the Cats’ struggles with late-game execution. “They executed better than us. The late-game stuff, again, we’ve had three guys out.”
Veteran point guard Sahvir Wheeler (injury) and sophomore power forward Daimion Collins (death in family) have joined Tshiebwe in missing time during UK’s run-up to the season.
For the first time of the young regular season, Kentucky had its full roster available against the Spartans.
Tshiebwe said the decision that he would play against the Spartans was made possible after he was cleared to return by doctors.
There was 14:55 left in the first half when Tshiebwe made his first game appearance of 2022-23. The Kentucky-centric crowd let loose a thunderous roar.
It took Tshiebwe all of a minute and nine seconds to get in the scoring column — on a putback, appropriately enough.
In his first three minutes of the season, the 6-foot-9, 260-pound senior snared four rebounds.
By halftime, Tshiebwe was well on his way to his 17th consecutive points-rebounds double-double with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Offensively, Tshiebwe did his best work down the stretch in regulation. The big man scored nine of UK’s final 15 points. His putback after rebounding a missed Jacob Toppin free throw with 2:15 left gave Kentucky a 61-58 lead.
The Cats couldn’t hold it.
As well as he played, Tshiebwe did show some rust. He turned the ball over five times.
With Kentucky up 62-60 and only 4.7 seconds left in regulation, Tshiebwe and Toppin appeared to become confused while defending against a MSU in-bounds play from underneath the Spartans’ basket.
The result was a wide-open dunk for Malik Hall that sent the game to its first OT.
“He had some turnovers,” Calipari said of Tshiebwe. “Even on the play out of bounds, he can’t do everything. He was carrying us for awhile.”
Said Michigan State’s Izzo: “Oscar is not Oscar yet. He’s come back after missing (time) and having the knee injury.”
Tshiebwe fouled out with 32.8 seconds left in the first overtime and Kentucky ahead 70-69. When the Cats had to go to a second OT without their star, it was going to be difficult against a veteran Michigan State team that has played better so far in the young season than its lack of preseason hype would have suggested.
Judging from my Twitter timeline and email box following the game, the Big Blue Nation is not in much mood to look for positives from what is UK’s fifth loss in the Champions Classic in its past six games.
It was Kentucky’s fourth straight loss in the Gainbridge Fieldhouse — three in the Champions Classic and a rather memorable NCAA Tournament defeat at the hands of No. 15 Saint Peter’s last season.
Even if UK might not have quite as many reliable scoring options at this point in the season as it had appeared against the overmatched foes that Cats have faced to date, there is still a lot to like about the 2022-23 Cats.
Besides Tshiebwe, Kentucky got a stout performance from freshman guard Cason Wallace. The 6-4 Dallas product had 14 points, five rebounds, five assists and a school-record-tying eight steals. “Cason, I thought, really played well,” Calipari said.
However, UK’s perimeter shooters, CJ Fredrick (2 of 7 field goals, 1 of 6 three-pointers) and Antonio Reeves (1 of 7, 1 of 3) struggled. The Cats also were mediocre (16 of 24) from the foul line.
“I’ve got a lot to learn about this team,” Calipari said. “The late-game situations, that’s on me as a coach. But we haven’t had the team together to work on that.”
Even if the happy ending was lacking, Tshiebwe’s return made for compelling viewing.
The best news for Kentucky backers is that, afterward, the UK star said he played 34 minutes without pain in his surgically repaired knee.
“It felt really good. Really good. No pain, no anything,” Tshiebwe said. “I thank God, because He has been good to me.”
Thursday
South Carolina State at No. 4 Kentucky
What: Tribute Classic
When: 7 p.m.
TV: SEC Network
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: South Carolina State 0-3, Kentucky 2-1
Series: Kentucky leads 1-0
Last meeting: Kentucky won 82-67 on March 13, 1998, in the NCAA Tournament at Atlanta
This story was originally published November 16, 2022 at 12:09 AM.
