"Oscar got bullied"...and still got 18 points and 15 rebounds

Tonight, Oscar Tshiebwe had 18 points and 15 rebounds and passed Bob Burrow (1954-55) to take third place on Kentucky’s single-season rebounding list. Yet, I doubt anyone would say it was his best performance. After the 83-72 win over Ole Miss, John Calipari went a step further, telling reporters Oscar got pushed around in the paint.

“Today I thought Oscar got bullied. I did, and I was on him about it and holding him accountable. Now, he gets 18 and 15, but he still got bullied.”

That last sentence says everything you need to know about the season Oscar’s having. Tonight was his 12th straight double-double, tying him with Dan Issel (1969-70) in program history for such a streak. It was his 24th of the season, which ties him with Julius Randle for second place in Kentucky lore (keep in mind Randle needed 40 games to do that). David Robinson holds the NCAA Division I record for the most double-doubles with 31. With potentially 10 more games to play, Oscar could own that record too.

Oscar has now pulled down 10+ rebounds in 17 straight games, the longest streak by a major conference player since Tim Duncan at Wake Forest in 1996-97. His 15 rebounds tonight take his season total to 460. No. 2 on Kentucky’s all-time list is Cliff Hagan (1951-52) with 528:

Kentucky Single-Season Rebounding Leaders

Rank	Name	Season	Games	Rebounds
1	Bill Spivey	1950-51	33	567
2	Cliff Hagan	1951-52	32	528
3	Oscar Tshiebwe	2021-22	30	460
4	Bob Burrow	1954-55	26	459
5	Frank Ramsey	1950-51	34	434
6	Julius Randle	2013-14	40	417
7	Anthony Davis	2011-12	40	415
8	Frank Ramsey	1951-52	32	383
9	Dan Issel	1968-69	28	381
10	Ed Beck	1956-57	27	380

“Again, you’ve got 18 and 15, and we’re looking like what, come on, you’re better than that.”

Tonight, Oscar was tasked with guarding seven-footer Nysier Brooks. At times, he struggled with Brooks’ length, but eventually found his groove, putting up a double-double in the second half alone with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Brooks finished with 14 points and 5 rebounds.

“Well, the guy was really leveraging him,” Calipari said. “That kid is really good, by the way. [Nysier] Brooks is a good player. But when Oscar caught it tight, he scored. When Oscar caught it out, I said, don’t throw it to him. If that guy pushes him out, then he’s not getting the ball, and we still threw it to him a couple of times. But when he gets it tight with a good angle, it’s a basket.

“Again, you’ve got 18 and 15, and we’re looking like what, come on, you’re better than that. What are we, 30 and 20? We’re all losing our minds. The main one is me.”

Making the extraordinary ordinary. Yet another reason Oscar is hands down the National Player of the Year.