Kentucky faces an Oscar-like problem at Florida

Oscar Tshiebwe was a one-of-a-kind talent and person at Kentucky. Truly one of one. Florida doesn’t have an Oscar Tshiebwe, but Rueben Chinyelu is doing his best Oscar impersonation on the glass. Florida’s big man ranks second in the entire country in rebounding and leads the Southeastern Conference by three rebounds per game. He averages nearly 11.8 per game on the year and even more against SEC competition (13.0).

Last night, Chinyelu hauled in 20 rebounds in Florida’s win at Georgia. Before that, games of 16 rebounds at Texas A&M and 17 rebounds against Alabama. He’s also had two 21-rebound games and is on pace to be the first Gator to average double-digit rebounds in 50 years.

Those are Oscar-like numbers, backed by similar rebounding metrics. Zack Geoghegan noted in his Florida frontcourt writings that Chinyelu has offensive and defensive rebounding percentages of 18.2 and 31.8, compared to Tshiebwe’s 19.6 and 28.0. Pretty close.

[Led by Rueben Chinyelu, Florida’s physical frontcourt will challenge Kentucky]

The 6-10, 260-pound senior is also a double-double machine for the Gators. Chinyelu has 14 of them in 23 games, and Florida is undefeated every time he gets one.

What Kentucky fans know about players like this

Kentucky fans, of all people, understand the particular misery of facing an elite rebounder. We were blessed to spend two seasons watching Oscar turn missed shots into a recurring nightmare for opponents. It was a huge advantage when he wore blue, and maddening for everyone else.

You remember. Players who get every rebound are exhausting on their opponents, and they extend possessions that should be over. Oscar was a cheat code because you never had to worry about rebounding. It was a luxury.

Looking ahead to Saturday, Florida appears to have one of those. There’s no mystery about the assignment for Kentucky’s bigs. Box him out, grab the ball with two hands, and survive the glass.

It’ll take a group effort from the entire UK frontcourt. Kentucky fans know how this works. Now we’ll see how it feels on the other side of the paint.