Oscar Tshiebwe, Sahvir Wheeler Still On Pace To Break Single-Season Records

It is truly amazing to think that Kentucky might see both its single-season rebounds and single-season assists records fall in the same season. The rebounds record was seen as almost unbreakable and the assists record of Tyler Ulis hadn’t been threatened since that year. But this team has been special in every way and now we are officially on record watch for the remainder of the season. Just how good do those guys have to be to break the records? Let’s take a look:

SINGLE-SEASON REBOUNDS

*Through 25 games
Oscar Tshiebwe: 382 rebounds
Julius Randle: 250 rebounds (finished with 417)
Anthony Davis: 249 rebounds (finished with 415)
Demarcus Cousins: 254 rebounds (finished with 375)

Oscar is likely to break the modern single-season rebound record in the next two to three games. It will take him 27 or 28 games to do something it took Julius Randle and Anthony Davis 40 games to do. In the modern era of UK basketball, I think it is the single most impressive individual statistical achievement we have seen. The real question is, what does he have to do to break the all-time record of Bill Spivey at 567 rebounds? It’s most likely going to be a matter of how many games UK plays. There are 31 regular-season games and let’s assume UK makes the SEC Championship, adding three more. That’s 34 games heading into the NCAA Tournament. Oscar is currently at 15.2 rebounds per game. What does his final rebounding average have to be to break the record:

35 games (1st Round NCAA loss): 16.2 rebounds per game
36 games (2nd Round NCAA loss): 15.7 rebounds per game
37 games (Sweet 16 loss): 15.3 rebounds per game
38 games (Elite 8 loss): 14.9 rebounds per game
39 games (Final Four loss): 14.5 rebounds per game
40 games (National Championship): 14.2 rebounds per game

So consider this: if Oscar just keeps his current rebounding average and UK makes the Elite 8, he’ll break the school record. No UK player has gotten within 150 REBOUNDS of this record in the last 67 seasons. And Oscar has a legitimate shot to break that. It’s staggering to really think about.

SINGLE-SEASON ASSISTS

*Through 25 games
Sahvir Wheeler: 165 assists
Tyler Ulis: 169 assists (finished with 246)
John Wall: 162 assists (finished with 241)
Roger Harden: 175 assists (finished with 232)

Wheeler continues to keep pace with the other top assist makers in school history and with the Washington injury he will likely take on the point guard duties for more minutes for a couple of weeks. His chance at the record will likely depend on how many total games this team will play. He currently sits at 6.6 assists per game and if he were to keep at that pace for the rest of the season, UK would need to get the Elite 8 for him to break the single-season record.