Oscar Tshiebwe nearly broke a 46 year long standing rebounding record held by Phil Hubbard of Michigan. The record currently stands at 26 and was set in 1977 by the Michigan star Hubbard.
Oscar passes an elite group of NCAA record holders (22) Olajuwon, Duncan and Cody Zellar and comes up one short of overtaking the long standing record of 26 rebounds in an NCAA game.
At this rate, it would surprise no one if he actually beats that record at some point in the tournament. And, if he decides to come back for another year he could do it in next years NCAA tournament.
This guy is a rebounding machine. Have a look at some of his season highlights below.
Tshiebwe’s achievements include several notable records at Kentucky. He is eighth in program history with 934 rebounds in just 65 games for the team, the fastest player to reach that mark in UK’s history. If he had played his entire career at Kentucky, his 1,299 career rebounds would be the most all-time. Tshiebwe ranks 49th overall in scoring history in program history, with only one player (Bill Spivey) scoring more points in just two seasons than Tshiebwe’s 1,092. He is also third all-time with 47 double-doubles, behind only Issel and Nash.
In addition, Tshiebwe has achieved numerous individual game and season milestones, including scoring 37 points and grabbing 24 rebounds in a game against Georgia this season. This was the first 35-point, 20-rebound game for a UK player since 1976 and only the fifth such game in program history. He has also amassed seven games of at least 20 rebounds as a Wildcat, while all UK players combined since the 1970-71 season have totaled seven such games.
Tshiebwe’s success has contributed to the Wildcats’ outstanding rebounding performance, leading the country in rebound margin (+9.7) in 2022 and ranking third (+8.8) in 2023. Kentucky was fourth in the country in offensive rebounding percentage (37.7%) last year and is second this season at 38.7%.
Tshiebwe has also received several other postseason honors, including being a finalist for the John R. Wooden Award, the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award, and the Oscar Robertson Trophy late season watch list.
The Wildcats face off against the Kansas State Wildcats tomorrow in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Can he out do himself in that game? Only time will tell.
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