John Calipari unsure of Oscar Tshiebwe's status for Michigan State game

On3 imageby:Zack Geoghegan11/11/22

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Kentucky men’s basketball got back its starting point guard, but the status of the team’s best player is still up in the air.

The Wildcats came away with a 77-52 win over Duquesne on Friday night as lead guard Sahvir Wheeler returned to the lineup. He sat out the first regular season game with a minor knee injury that he suffered in the opening exhibition win over Missouri Western State a couple of weeks ago, but stepped back on the court against the Dukes. Wheeler finished with a spectacular stat line of 11 points, 11 assists, six rebounds, and just two turnovers in 27 minutes off the bench.

Wheeler said after the game was over he didn’t expect to play that many minutes in his first game back — and he even had to sub himself out at one point to catch his breath — but it was exactly what the ‘Cats needed with freshman Cason Wallace struggling to hit his offensive groove.

“I did not think Sahvir would play as many minutes as he played,” UK head coach John Calipari said postgame. “But he got tired. He said, ‘you know I never take myself out, and I took myself out.’”

Getting Wheeler back on the floor now is terrific timing with a matchup against Michigan State (which lost by one point to No. 2 Gonzaga on Friday night), but the same can’t be said about his superstar teammate. The status of reigning national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe is still undecided with just a few days separating Tuesday’s showdown against the Spartans in Indianapolis. Tshiebwe did not play in either exhibition and has sat out the first two regular-season contests with a knee issue.

I don’t know yet,” Calipari said when asked if Tshiebwe will play on Tuesday. “He’s got to go through some workouts and if it swells or does stuff, we’re just going to have to wait. That surgery, he’s ahead of schedule, but, you know, you’ve got to be able to stop and turn and, you know, it’s not ligament or anything like that. But there was an operation where they went inside that area where it will still be sore for a minute.

“So, we’ll have to see. I hope, but I have no idea.”

Not having Tshiebwe against Michigan State certainly isn’t ideal, but it doesn’t hurt that freshman center Ugonna Onyenso has shown some unexpected skills early on. More importantly though will be the return of sophomore forward Daimion Collins, who has been dealing with the tragic passing of his father. Calipari said Friday night that he and fellow freshman Cason Wallace (who is close friends with Collins) will all go down to Texas with Collins for the funeral. After that, they’ll all rejoin in Indianapolis to take on Michigan State.

Get healthy, Big O.

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2024-03-27