Kentucky survives Gators, injury scare in 78-57 victory
Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe slammed in two of his game-high 27 points on Saturday against Florida. (Jeff Drummond/Cats Illustrated)
Jeff Drummond • CatsIllustrated
Managing Editor Edit
@JDrumUK
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- For the fifth time this season, Kentucky had a major contributor exit a game with an injury.
Unlike some of those other brushes with misfortune, however, the No. 5 Wildcats had no problem overcoming the setback in a 78-57 win over Florida on Saturday at Rupp Arena.
Kentucky's star freshman guard, TyTy Washington, left the game after suffering a left lower leg injury midway though the second half on a scramble for a loose ball. He had scored 10 points, grabbed five rebounds, and dished out six assists in helping UK build a 10-point lead before hobbling off the court and departing for X-Rays.
Those proved to be negative, much to the relief of Big Blue Nation, although Kentucky coach John Calipari said Washington could miss some time late in the season. He's considered "day to day."
"If it was one more guy, like it was at LSU and the way it was at Auburn, it makes it way harder," Calipari said. "You know what I'm saying? We need those guys. But one, we can kind of cover for. We covered for Sahvir (Wheeler), we covered for TyTy. You can do it, but you can't cover for both of them."
Washington's teammates more than took up the slack, pushing the lead from 10 to 21 by the final horn. Junior center/forward Oscar Tshiebwe added to his national player of the year resume with a 27-point, 19-rebound, three-steal effort to lead the Cats.
"He's been a beast," Calipari said of his big man from The Congo, who recorded his seventh straight double-double and 19th of the season.
Grad senior guards Kellen Grady and Davion Mintz followed with 15 and 11 points, respectively, while Wheeler broke out of an offensive slump with nine points and six assists in a turnover-free performance.
“Obviously, that was unfortunate for TyTy going out, but we’ve always had the next man up mentality," Wheeler said. "... I think it plays to a strength of this team, our depth, and the guys are willing to step up and have stepped up in previous games when their name is called upon.
"So, obviously, we took a moment like, man, you know, we hope he’s OK. But I know he will want us to finish the game and win the game on a high note like we did.”
Kentucky (21-4, 10-2 SEC) dominated the Gators on the glass to a 41-25 count. Tshiebwe became the first UK player with 12 consecutive games of double-figure rebounds since Hall of Famer Dan Issel during the 1969-70 season.
"Oscar's up there playing volleyball. To me, he was unbelievable," Florida coach Mike White said.
Asked what Tshiebwe's impact on the game was, Florida center/forward Colin Castleton said, "It's everything... He’s probably the best rebounder I’ve ever played against. That’s his skillset, and that’s what he’s good at.”
Castleton led Florida (16-9, 6-6 SEC) with 18 points. He was the lone Gator in double figures on a day when the visitors were held to 45% shooting from the field and a 5-for-22 day from beyond the arc. They also saw 10 turnovers turn into 17 points, many in transition, for UK.
*****
In this "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK victory...
KEY MOMENT:
Kentucky led 33-28 at the half but used a 13-2 run in the opening segment of the second half to take a 16-point lead. TyTy Washington had eight of his 10 points and dished out an assist during the spurt.
GAME BALL:
Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky -- Once again, the Cats' big man was an unstoppable force. He was 11-of-18 from the field and 5-of-6 at the free-throw line. Ten of his 19 rebounds came on the offensive glass.
BY THE NUMBERS:
1st - Player, Oscar Tshiebwe, since Kenny Walker in 1984-85 to have five games with at least 20 points and 14 rebounds in a season.
5 - Turnovers for Kentucky, a season-low.
16 - Game win streak for UK at Rupp Arena.
106-41 - Kentucky's lead in the all-time series against Florida. The Cats are 54-11 in games played in Lexington and 21-9 in games coached by John Calipari.
20,383 - Season-high attendance at Rupp Arena.
QUOTABLE:
"The reality of it is if you watch and you see who he is, you've got to love the kid. He plays so hard. He never says a word about the officials. He smiles. ... He plays his heart out. He doesn't play great every night out, but he impacts every game. So, I would say there may be a couple players that are having more of an impact on games than him, but I'd have to see them, and I'd have to say over the long haul, he's doing things that haven't been done for 45 years." -- UK coach John Calipari on Oscar Tshiebwe's national player of the year chances.
UP NEXT:
Kentucky returns to action on Tuesday night at Tennessee in a 9 p.m. ET tipoff on ESPN. The No. 19 Volunteers (17-6, 8-3 SEC) defeated Vanderbilt 73-64 today in Knoxville. UK won the first matchup with UT 107-79 on Jan. 15 at Rupp Arena.
