John Calipari has found his backup big man: "I need to play Ugonna (Onyenso)"

Ugonna Onyenso made headlines at the very beginning of the season for Kentucky men’s basketball, but the hype surrounding the seven-footer died down as he played just two total minutes of game clock in the Wildcats’ losses to Michigan State and Gonzaga.

His skill set is reminiscent of a Nerlens Noel-type — a long, skinny, mobile center who can block shots at an elite level and slam home alley-oops on the other end. Onyenso teased the entire Big Blue Nation when he recorded six points, four rebounds, and four blocks in the season-opener against Howard. Then he did it again one game later with nine points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks against Duquesne.

In fact, Onyenso has recorded at least three blocks in all four of Kentucky’s matchups against non-Power 5 opponents. He just looked out of place as a should-be high school senior under the bright lights against quality teams.

Or he did until Sunday afternoon in London, England.

Onyenso, who hasn’t even been able to call the United States home for a full year yet, made his first impact in a meaningful game for Kentucky in a 73-69 win over Michigan across the pond. The rookie saw the O2 Arena court for eight minutes against the Wolverines, contributing four points (1-1 FG; 2-2 FT), two rebounds, and two blocks. Onyenso’s layup at the 12:13 mark of the second half put UK in front 51-50 — the ‘Cats didn’t trail the rest of the game.

He was tasked with defending Michigan’s All-American big man Hunter Dickinson while Kentucky’s reigning national player of the year, Oscar Tshiebwe, dealt with foul trouble. Dickinson admittedly got the better of Onyenso a handful of times, but the Wildcat freshman made him work for it and even sent back two of his shot attempts.

That was all Kentucky head coach John Calipari needed to see, apparently. It sounds as though Onyenso has locked up the backup center position at this stage in the season, stripping it away from junior Lance Ware in the process, who played just two minutes against Michigan.

“You know now that I need to play Ugonna,” Calipari said postgame. “He’s gotta be that other big, and that’s what I’ll do.”

Onyenso is clearly deserving of a larger role, but it will have to come at a cost, and how much should he actually play? Calipari has referenced several times this season how he needs to find more minutes for players such as Onyenso, which means someone else is going to see their playing time reduced. In this case, Ware might be the biggest victim.

Ware’s minutes have steadily gone down since the season began. He opened with 20- and 21-minute performances in Kentucky’s first two outings (with Tshiebwe sidelined due to injury giving him a boost) but has yet to play that much since. Ware saw 15 minutes against Michigan State, 14 against South Carolina State, 10 against Gonzaga, eight against Bellarmine, and just two against Michigan. He sat out the Wildcats’ win over North Florida on Nov. 23 due to an undisclosed illness.

Simply put, Ware’s production is trending in the wrong direction while Onyenso continues to make an impact.

“Let me say this. Ugonna impacted the game in the first half. Blocks, rebounds. They’re like who is this guy?” Calipari added.

Considering Tshiebwe has been consistently caught in foul trouble this season, the backup center position could loom large. The best thing for Kentucky would be for one of Onyenso or Ware to prove they undeniably deserve it. So far, Onyenso is winning that race.