Oscar Tshiebwe leads the SEC with 133 offensive rebounds. (Vicky Graff Photo)
Auburn beat Mississippi Wednesday night but Auburn coach Bruce Pearl knows getting out rebounded 17-7 on the offensive glass is a bad sign going into Saturday afternoon’s game at Kentucky.
Ole Miss got 16 second-chance points to stay in the game and now Auburn faces UK and Oscar Tshiebwe, the Southeastern Conference’s best rebounder.
“They’re athletic, they’re strong. But Kentucky is bigger, stronger and more athletic,” Pearl said after the Ole Miss win. “So we’re going to be up there in Rupp (Arena) against probably the biggest, best offensive rebounding team in the league.”
“If we rebound like we did tonight, we’ll get beat by 40.”
Kentucky is second in the SEC in offensive rebounds with 374 (Tshiebwe has 133), five behind Tennessee, and also second in offensive rebounds per game at 13.4 (Tennessee is at 13.5).
Here is another number to remember — UK is 19-4 this season when winning the rebounding battle.
The game matches the SEC’s top two rebounders. Tshiebwe has 329 total rebounds but Auburn center Johni Broome, a Morehead transfer, is next with 239. Tshiebwe is averaging 15.8 points and 13 rebounds per game on 54.5 percent shooting from the field (he was 12 of 13 against Florida in Wednesday’s win).
Broome scored 19 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked six shots against Ole Miss.
“I feel like it’s my job to anchor the defense and protect the rim,” Broome said after the Ole Miss win. “I tried my best to do that.”
“Johni made some really big shots and some really big plays, had some big blocks,” Pearl said.
