Grady, Tshiebwe help Cats survive OT scare from State
The Mississippi State coaches watched as Kentucky's Kellen Grady lined up an open 3-pointer in Tuesday's game at Rupp Arena. (Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated)
Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor Edit
@JDrumUK
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Oscar Tshiebwe delivered another eye-popping line score for Kentucky on Tuesday night against Mississippi State, and the No. 12 Wildcats needed almost every one of his 21 points and 22 rebounds in an 82-74 overtime win over the Bulldogs.
The 6-foot-9, 255-pound junior from the Democratic Republic of the Congo recorded his fifth game of the season with 20 or more rebounds to lead Kentucky (16-4, 6-2 SEC). It marked the first game for a UK player with 20-plus points and rebounds since Mike Phillips accomplished the feat on Jan. 10, 1976, against Tennessee.
"Oscar had 21 and 22. Not bad," UK coach John Calipari deadpanned.
“I think I’m doing my thing," Tshiebwe said. "The only thing that people cannot do is you cannot stop me from getting rebounds. You can stop me sometimes from scoring but rebounding belongs to me. You cannot stop me."
It may not have been enough, however, if the Cats did not get a big performance from Kellen Grady in overtime. The grad senior guard scored eight straight points to help UK regain control of a game it once led by 16 in the second half.
Grady finished with 18 points on a modest 7-for-16 shooting night, but he was 3-for-4 in overtime.
"I've got a lot of confidence in him," Calipari said. "He has shown that he can miss some shots and come back and make shots... Kellen made two ridiculous shots (in overtime)."
"It’s a rewarding feeling," Grady said. "... Just knowing that Coach Cal, the staff, and our team trusts me to be in those situations, whether it’s a passer or a shot-maker, gives you a little added confidence before you let it go. Just having that awareness that there’s that type of trust, I think today I showed that that trust is worthy.”
Kentucky, which played without star freshman TyTy Washington due to a sprained ankle sustained on Saturday at Auburn, also got 15 points and six assists from junior point guard Sahvir Wheeler and 12 points and six rebounds from junior forward Keion Brooks.
Sophomore wing Dontaie Allen chipped in with five points off the UK bench in his first significant playing time since the early stages of the season. He had not scored since the Nov. 29 game against Central Michigan.
Mississippi State (13-6, 4-3 SEC) got a game-high 30 points from junior guard Iverson Molinar but was outscored 10-2 in overtime after charging back from a big deficit with a 48-point second half.
"I thought we did a great job of fighting our way back," said MSU coach Ben Howland, whose team shot 62% in the second half after going 29.6% in the first half. "You know Iverson had a spectacular game, especially in the second half."
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In this "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK victory...
KEY MOMENT:
After MSU's Iverson Molinar tied the game at 74 with his 29th and 30th points of the night, Kentucky called on Kellen Grady to answer. Typically a spot-up shooter from the perimeter, Grady showed some versatility in his game with a nice baseline move for a tough bucket. That seemed to ignite his confidence, and he drained 3-pointers on UK's next two trips to give the Cats control of the game.
GAME BALL:
Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky -- The nation's leading rebounder played through bumps and bruises and a brief exit due to tweaking his ankle but still delivered another monster stat line in his 14th double-double of the season. He is the only UK player since 1950-51 to have five games of 20 or more rebounds in the same season.
BY THE NUMBERS:
4th - Straight overtime win for Kentucky, the last two coming against Mississippi State. UK is 63-49 all-time in OT games.
17 - Cats matched their season-high for turnovers for a third time this season. UK has won all three games.
32 - Players have scored 30 or more points against UK in Rupp Arena, as MSU's Iverson Molinar did Tuesday. Those teams are 6-26.
44-33 - Kentucky's advantage in the rebound column. The Cats owned a 13-3 edge in second-chance points.
100-21 - Kentucky's all-time record against the Bulldogs, including a 51-5 mark in Lexington.
800th - Career win for UK coach John Calipari
QUOTABLE:
"Look, we're going to Kansas, and they have been in a bunch of close games. We had to be in this kind of game to understand how we finish it off." -- UK coach John Calipari
UP NEXT:
Kentucky hits the road for another tough matchup in the form of No. 5 Kansas at Phog Allen Fieldhouse in the Big12/SEC Challenge. Tipoff for the Cats and Jayhawks is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on ESPN.
