Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s win over Mount St. Mary’s
Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 80-55 victory over Mount Saint Mary’s on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena.
1. Are we sure Oscar Tshiebwe is not a machine?
Before tipoff Tuesday, Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky’s 6-foot-9 center tweeted, “I AM NOT A MACHINE, I AM OSCAR” with the image of our friend from the Democratic Republic of the Congo celebrating in front of another image in which Tshiebwe’s face was half man/half cyborg.
OK, are we sure this guy is not some sort of machine? After all, the West Virginia transfer scored 24 points and grabbed 16 rebounds against the Mountaineers. That’s Tshiebwe’s third consecutive double-double, the first Wildcat to start his UK career with three straight double-doubles since Julius Randle in 2013-14. And Randle turned out to be a pretty good player, wouldn’t you say?
Tshiebwe is showing early signs of going down the same path. He added another trick to his bag on Tuesday. The mid-range jumper. Savhir Wheeler said during his Monday media interview that his rather large friend had developed a lethal jump shot. Tuesday night, teammate Keion Brooks said the entire team had been urging the center to go public with his mid-range game.
So Oscar did. By my unofficial count, three of his 11 made field goals came on jumpers. Tshiebwe ended up 11 of 14 from the floor and two of two at the foul line. Five of his 16 rebounds came at the offensive end, after grabbing double-figure offensive rebounds his first two games. Tshiebwe came within four of his stated goal of 20 rebounds a game, but that’s OK.
“I’ll just have to get 24 the next game,” he said afterward with a smile.
So what does a jump-shooting Oscar do for the rest of the Wildcats? “It opens up all kinds of driving lanes,” said guard TyTy Washington, his eyes wide with anticipation. Should they miss, then the Cyborg will likely be there to crash the boards.
2. John Calipari is getting what he wants out of these games.
This round-robin is called the “Kentucky Classic” but it’s really a group of guarantee games scheduled to give a new team a confidence boost. So far, so good. After the opening-game loss to Duke in the Big Apple, the Cats rolled Robert Morris by 40 points. Tuesday, they manhandled the Mountaineers by 25. Friday, they’ll get a tougher test against 3-0 Ohio University, but I’m guessing Cal is fine with that. After all, we didn’t get these team-builders during last year’s pandemic.
Even allowing for the competition, you’d have to say the Cats look to be a better offensive team than a year ago. Low bar, to be sure. But after shooting 57.1 percent against Robert Morris, Cal’s club shot 53.1 percent from the floor against The Mount. The opponents took away UK’s three-point looks, limiting the Cats to just 10 shots (and four makes) beyond the arc. Kentucky adjusted nicely, outscoring its opponent 46-16 in the paint.
The production came without a couple of valuable reserves. Jacob Toppin missed his second straight game with a bruised shoulder. After giving it a go and lasting just two minutes against Robert Morris, Lance Ware sat out last night to rest his injured ankle. Both hope to return soon.
3. There are still plenty of good seats available
If you read my colleague Mark Story’s recent column, you know that the attendance for UK’s first four home games — two of the exhibition variety and two that count in the standings — has not been what we’re used to for the “greatest tradition in the history of college basketball.”
Tuesday’s listed attendance of 18,227 is really tickets distributed. There were far fewer “fannies in the seats” as former UK AD C.M. Newton used to say. The students’ E-Rupption Zone was not full. And the bleachers in the upper level section above the E-Rupption Zone were nowhere close to full. Empty blue seats here and there dotted the entire arena.
My two cents: The quality of competition is the main culprit. Yes, other factors are involved. COVID-19 is one. One-and-done weariness is another. The 9-16 finish last season, coupled with the controversy over the team kneeling for the national anthem at Florida, has almost certainly played a role.
But, all things considered, if Kentucky was playing North Carolina or at least some other recognizable name, most every seat would have been filled Tuesday. Alas, we won’t know for sure until the Louisville Cardinals come to town Dec. 22.
This story was originally published November 16, 2021 at 10:39 PM.
