John Calipari describes Oscar Tshiebwe's reaction to his quiet night vs. Florida

Oscar Tshiebwe had one of his worst games as a Wildcat over the weekend. However, even with that being the case, Kentucky still won 72-67 over Florida and John Calipari says his star player couldn’t have been any happier about it.

Calipari spoke about Tshiebwe’s performance in his postgame press conference. He said there wasn’t anyone happier about the win on the team than Tshiebwe, which says a lot about him considering how poor his outing was in the end.

“He missed a bunch. But that’s alright. You know what? He was one of the happiest guys in that locker room,” said Calipari. “So when I tell you that my job is to make sure that he’s out there being fresh so that he can do what he does? He’s like ‘whatever you say!’. When I said take yourself out, you know what he said to me? ‘I don’t know how to do that, Coach. You just take me out’. That’s what he said to me.”

Tshiebwe finished tied for season lows in points with just four and field-goal percentage at 14.3% as he shot 2-14 on the night. He still managed to keep up his usual rebounding rate with 15 boards. Still, he didn’t get to the free-throw line, turned the ball over three times, and fouled out by the end.

This game was just not Tshiebwe’s night. Even so, that’s not what this is about to him. Kentucky found a way to win without him which, overall, is the most important thing for him and his team moving forward.

Toppin discusses the value of winning while not playing through Tshiebwe

Oscar Tshiebwe finished Kentucky‘s 72-67 win over Florida on Saturday with four points in what was his worst performance offensively all season.

He still finished the game with 15 rebounds, three assists, and a steal in 34 minutes on the court before fouling out late in the second half. Kentucky forward Jacob Toppin came to the aid of his teammate after the game, pointing out the immense positives Tshiebwe brought to the game in every category except for scoring.

“Obviously, he still helped us in other ways (than scoring). He got a lot of rebounds, but just being able to not play through him for once and be able to win a game just shows the kind of team we are,” Toppin said postgame. “He got a little down on himself. I had to tell him that he can’t be great every night. He understands that he has to be better.”

It was just the second time all season that the reigning Wooden Award winner has been held under five points. The first was against Alabama, where the Crimson Tide easily handled Kentucky on their home floor. Tshiebwe went 1-of-7 shooting on the night — he would shoot 2-of-14 against Florida.

Instead, UK relied on Toppin’s 17-point, 10-rebound double-double and Cason Wallace‘s 20 points to go with three blocks. The victory gave Kentucky their sixth SEC win in a row after starting out 1-3 in conference play.