Calipari on Oscar Tshiebwe, Jacob Toppin, CJ Fredrick's statuses following Kentucky Wesleyan win

Kentucky got its first win over an opponent other than themselves tonight, a 95-72 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan, but what does that injury report look like ahead of the real season opener vs. Duke on November 9? Judging by John Calipari’s remarks, uncertain.

Oscar Tshiebwe started tonight and played 17 minutes despite a minor hip injury. Even so, the big man finished with 11 points (4-4 FG, 3-4 FT), 10 rebounds, and a plus/minus of +26, second only to Sahvir Wheeler at +27. Calipari did not seem worried about Tshiebwe after the game but wanted to see more from his other bigs in Big O’s absence.

“I know Oscar was out, hip’s been bothering him so I left him out the rest of the game but it doesn’t matter. We had other guys, we tried two or three different guys to say, ‘Let’s go, let’s see what you do.’ Didn’t do very well.”

Neither Jacob Toppin (shoulder) nor CJ Fredrick (leg) played tonight. There was optimism Toppin would get minutes but Calipari elected to hold him out. Will they be ready to roll by the season opener vs. Duke? The jury’s still out.

“We don’t know yet,” Calipari said when asked about Toppin and Fredrick. “Jacob practiced liked one day but we’re coming down to the wire right now, so it’ll be hard. CJ has not started yet so it will be hard. If you ask me and we get to eight, there’s a couple of guys, that’s just how it is. You want to play more guys, they just gotta play better.”

Ten days. Rest up, boys.