Kansas State lacks a traditional center to go against elite rebounder Oscar Tshiebwe

Chris Livingston laughs as he listens to Oscar Tshiebwe talk during Saturday's press conference. (Vicky Graff Photo)

What was it like for Kentucky freshmen Cason Wallace and Chris Livingston to watch teammate Oscar Tshiebwe pull off 25 rebounds — a new UK NCAA Tournament record and most rebounds anyone has had in a NCAA game in over 46 years — against Providence Friday night?

“It’s definitely something we became accustomed to seeing from Oscar. We run the ball very well, coming out with a lot of energy, high intensity. We knew that Coach emphasized rebounding going against Providence, and he emphasized that the teams that really bother them, outrebounded them by a large margin,” Livingston said Saturday.

“We knew we had to do that in a game, and Oscar started off right, so we wanted to match that energy.”

Wallace said the players certainly noticed what Tshibewe was doing.

“Just brought a lot of energy to the team seeing Oscar be Oscar and get all those rebounds,”Wallace, who was 2-for-11 from the field, said. “Brought a little confidence to our shooting a little bit, knowing if we miss it we get a chance with Oscar down there cleaning it up.”

Tshiebwe has 934 rebounds in two seasons at UK, moving himpast Chuck Hayes (910) for seventh place on the UK career list. HE also has 419 rebounds on the season, becoming the first player in Kentucky history to grab at least 400 caroms in two seasons — a big reason he is UK’s first back to back All-American in over 20 years.

Tshiebwe has 1,092 points at Kentucky and needs eight more points to become only the 48th player in UK history to reach 1,100 points.

“He has a nose for the ball, and it’s important to him that he goes and gets rebounds. He understands positioning, where the ball will probably come off to, and then he goes up and now he rebounds with two hands,” UK coach John Calipari said Saturday.

“When he gets both hands on it, it’s hard to get it away from him. Our own players have figured that out. They go try to grab it, and he grabs it with two. I tell the kid, You got one rebound.’ He said, ‘He jerked three out of my hands.’”

Tshiebwe’s dominance on the offensive boards in Friday’s win over Providence led to a 16-2 advantage in second chance points for the Cats. He could have the same type of dominant presence against Kansas State today because K-State does not have a true big man.

“He has had ability. People want to forget that he had a knee operation and was out four weeks to start the season and should have been out two more. He forced his way back. ‘I want to play. I’m good. I can do this.’ Should have been out two more weeks,” Calipari said.

“And it’s been in the last, I’m going to say, month that he has gotten back to where he was. Now he is going beyond, but, no, he impacts the game.

“The other thing is how about you have a guy that will go fight and go get all those rebounds. If he doesn’t get the ball, he may come over to me in a time-out and say, ‘Coach, may tell him to throw it to me.’ That’s the extent. He is not saying anything.

“What’s better than playing with a guy like that who will do all the dirty work, do everything, and all he wants is every once in a while, please throw me the ball. But his impact obviously in the last two years has been enormous.”

Without a traditional center, Kansas State likely will make Tshiebwe defend more on the perimeter and also use more pick-and-roll options than Providence did to test the UK center.

“They are really good. They’re big. We’re going to come in and be ready to play. Because to watch the film, what they are doing, like, it’s a team that is really good. I’m just going to come in. We have a team plan on how we’re going to play them, so I’ll be ready for tomorrow too,” Tshiebwe said Saturday.

The UK all-American says he reads the ball to position himself on rebounding as much as he uses his muscle.

“I position myself where the ball sometimes I don’t need to jump, it’s just going to come in my hands,” he said. “It needs a lot of effort and a lot of fights. I use my body a lot when I’m jumping so I can get the rebound.”