Kentucky men’s basketball senior forward Oscar Tshiebwe produced one of the best offensive weekly performances in program history en route to a pair of victories for the Wildcats and Southeastern Conference Player of the Week accolades. Tshiebwe averaged 23.5 points per game and shot 87% (20-23) from the field in wins at Florida and over Auburn.
The award is the sixth weekly SEC honor for a Wildcat this season. Tshiebwe previously earned SEC Player of the Week honors on Jan. 23, while Cason Wallace has garnered SEC Freshman of the Week honors three times this season and Chris Livingston was the Freshman of the Week just a week ago.
Tshiebwe went for a game-high 25 points, four boards and three assists against Florida. He then totaled 22 points and 17 rebounds to go along with a pair of steals in the dominating win over Auburn. Tshiebwe’s 92.3% field-goal percentage against Florida was the best field-goal clip with at least 13 attempts in program history, and the fourth-best with a minimum of eight attempts.
The 25-point performance at Florida was his third game this season with at least 25 points in a game and the 10th of his career. Tshiebwe also became the 61st player in program history to amass 1,000 points in a career as a Wildcat.
He then generated his 16th double-double of the season with 22 points and 17 rebounds against Auburn. He has 44 in 61 career games as a UK player and now sits in third place overall for career double-doubles in program history. It was his fifth 20-15 game of the year and the 12th during his time at Kentucky.
Kentucky has dominated the weekly SEC awards with John Calipari at the helm. UK has won more weekly SEC honors (125) than any other school during the Calipari era, including 94 SEC Freshman of the Week awards and 31 SEC Player of the Week honors.
For the season, Tshiebwe is averaging 16.4 points and 12.8 rebounds per contest. He’s the only player in the country averaging at least 15.0 points, at least 12.0 rebounds, at least 1.5 steals and at least 1.0 blocks per game.
Tshiebwe and the Wildcats will host Vanderbilt for a 7 p.m. ET Wednesday matchup with the Commodores. The game will be televised on SEC Network.
By: UK Athletics
(Photo by AP News)
