Oscar Tshiebwe says if he wears a headband again it will have to be bigger than the one he wore against LSU. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Before Kentucky played LSU Wednesday night, Kentucky’s assistant coaches had a warning for Oscar Tshiebwe — Kentucky’s best player and a double-double machine this season. For the first time, Tshiebwe decided to wear a white Nike headband.
“The assistant coaches were telling me if Coach (John Calipari) sees you miss layups, you better take off that headband,” Tshiebwe said after UK’s win.
The headband stayed on because Tshiebwe had 17 points, 16 rebounds, and three blocks. He was 5-for-7 from the field and 7-for-11 at the foul line.
It was his 10th straight double-double, the first UK player to do that since Jim Andrews in the 1972-73 season. It was his 22nd double-double this season, the nation’s second-best mark, and tied with Dan Issel (1968-69) for the third-most in a UK season. Issel has the school record with 25 in 1969-70 and that certainly seems like a mark Tshiebwe will break.
Tshiebwe joked that even LSU players were making fun of the headband because they said it was too little for him.
“If they can’t find a bigger one, I am not going to wear any more headbands,” Tshiebwe said.
Calipari probably will be happy for Tshiebwe to wear whatever he wants Saturday at Arkansas if it can help the Cats win another SEC game, especially if guards Sahvir Wheeler and TyTy Washington miss a third straight game as the UK coach indicated was possible.
Arkansas forward Jaylin Williams, a 6-10, 240-pound sophomore, averaged 13 points, 13.5 rebounds and three assists in wins at Missouri and over No. 16 Tennessee in Arkansas’ last two games. He had a career-high 16 rebounds, including 15 on the defensive end against Missouri. Williams also drew four charges in the Tennessee game to give him 41 for the season, the best mark in the SEC.
“Coach is good at preparing us against people we are going against, too. Coach knows what he is going to do for us not to be in foul trouble, especially me because I think my team really needs me because I help my teammates a lot,” Tshiebwe said.
“Coach is going to help us. He knows how we are going to go and not get into foul trouble. Coach is going to help us.”
Auburn still leads the SEC at 13-2 while UK is 12-3, Arkansas 11-4, and Tennessee 11-4. Auburn plays at Tennessee Saturday afternoon after UK plays at Arkansas. Auburn will play at Mississippi State and host South Carolina to close the season while UK will host Ole Miss and go to Florida. Arkansas plays at Tennessee March 5 to end the season.
Kentucky had to overcome double-digit deficits in the first half to beat Alabama and LSU the last two games and Tshiebwe knows a fast Arkansas start would not be a surprise.
“We respect people we go against, but we don’t fear them. We know people are going to come up and they are going to run. Sometimes it is going to be like that, but we cannot panic,” Tshiebwe said after the LSU win.
“We cannot go down because people are making shots. We just have to slow down and try to stop people and get the ball and finish. I think we did a good job stopping them from scoring and we started defending trying to make some shots. That was good for us.”
