Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s win over Western Kentucky
Three takeaways from Kentucky basketball’s 95-60 win over Western Kentucky on Wednesday night at Rupp Arena:
1. Kentucky’s mojo didn’t stay in Las Vegas
The saying goes that what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas. Not so. Not where Kentucky basketball is concerned. John Calipari’s Cats followed up on their impressive 98-69 spanking of North Carolina in the CBS Sports Classic last Saturday with an impressive 35-point drubbing of Western Kentucky’s Hilltoppers on Wednesday.
Kentucky built on a 37-28 halftime lead with a 15-0 spurt early in the second half. With 10:22 left, UK’s lead was 68-44. The Cats coasted home from there.
Oscar Tshiebwe grabbed a Rupp Arena-record 28 rebounds to go with his 14 points. Kellan Grady scored 23 points. TyTy Washington added 20. Jacob Toppin scored 12 points off the bench. And Kentucky was credited with 27 assists on its 38 made field goals. Point guard Sahvir Wheeler dished eight assists. A selfless Toppin had six assists.
“The thing we continued to do was pass the ball to each other,” Calipari said.
“The big thing is the ball is flying around the court,” Grady said. “It’s fun. You can see the joy we’re playing with.”
Defensively, Kentucky held Western Kentucky to just 31.3 percent shooting from the floor. The Toppers were 3-for-20 from three-point range. Camron Justice, who scored 18 points in the first half and finished with 25 in WKU’s 82-72 win over Louisville on Saturday, was just 5-for-17 from the floor. He missed six of his seven three-point attempts.
2. You can see Kellan Grady’s confidence growing
The graduate transfer from Davidson, Kellan Grady had started relatively slowly with his new team. He scored in double figures in just two of the Wildcats’ first nine games. He failed to score in the win over Ohio. He managed just eight points in the loss at Notre Dame.
Grady appeared to find his comfort zone in Las Vegas, however. He was 6-for-8 from the floor, including a scorching 5-for-7 from three-point range for 18 points in the rout of North Carolina. In his media interview Tuesday, Grady admitted he was feeling more comfortable. Calipari credited some extra work the team had done on ball positioning and catch-and-shoot skills.
“I took him out against North Carolina because he passed up two shots,” Calipari said Wednesday.
“That was all i needed to hear,” Grady said. “I guess I should have known that already.”
Grady followed it up with another dynamite performance against the Hilltoppers. He was 6-for-9 from beyond the arc and 7-for-10 overall on his way to a game-high 23 points. He did not commit a turnover in his 34 minutes.
After going 8-for-15 from three against North Carolina, UK was 9-for-20 from deep against Western. Washington was 2-for-5. Davion Mintz was 1-for-3. After going 2-for-19 in the loss at Notre Dame, Kentucky is 17-for-37 from downtown over its last two games. Grady has had much to do with that.
3. Oscar Tshiebwe outrebounded the entire Western team
Western Kentucky’s 7-foot-5 center Jamarion Sharp was a factor. Sharp ended up with seven blocked shots in 24 minutes on the floor before leaving with an apparent leg injury with 13:20 left to play. But he was no Oscar.
Kentucky’s 6-foot-9 center Oscar Tshiebwe scored 14 points and grabbed 28 rebounds, a Rupp Arena record, snapping Shaquille O’Neal’s record of 21 when LSU lost to Kentucky at Rupp during the 1989-90 season. And get this: Tshiebwe’s 28 rebounds were one more than Western’s total of 27 rebounds.
“That’s crazy,” Tshiebwe said afterward.
“It’s incredible,” Grady said. “It’s his will, his motor, his effort, his heart.”
Here are Oscar’s point/rebound totals so far:
- Duke 17/20
- Robert Morris 14/20
- Mount St. Mary’s 24/16
- Ohio 0/10
- Albany 12/11
- North Florida 12/11
- Central Michigan 20/16
- Southern 23/11
- Notre Dame 25/7
- North Carolina 16/12
- Western Kentucky 14/28
