Oscar Tshiebwe makes history, again

Another major honor is in for Kentucky Wildcats star Oscar Tshiebwe, who has been named a Second-Team All-American by the United States Basketball Writer’s Association (USBWA).

In the process, Tshiebwe becomes just the ninth consensus two-time All-American in Kentucky men’s basketball history, as if he needed more recognition as a Wildcat legend. He’s the first Wildcat to earn this distinction since Kenny “Sky” Walker in 1985 and 1986.

UK’s other multi-time consensus All-Americans include Forest Sale (1932, 33), Ralph Beard (1947, 48, 49), Alex Groza (1947, 48, 49), Cliff Hagan (1952, 54), Cotton Nash (1962, 63, 64), Louie Dampier (1966, 67), and Dan Issel (1969, 70).

Entering NCAA Tournament play, Tshiebwe leads the Wildcats in scoring (16.5 ppg) and rebounds (13.1 rpg) for the second-straight season. He’s the only player in the country averaging at least 15 points, 10 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks per outing.

Here are some of Tshiebwe’s biggest accomplishments via UK Athletics:

• In just 64 games for Kentucky, Tshiebwe is eighth in program history with 909 rebounds. He is the fastest to that mark in UK allure
• Had he played the entirety of his career at Kentucky, his 1,274 career rebounds would be the most all-time. Issel owns the UK record with 1,078
• Only one player (Bill Spivey – 1,213) has scored more points in just two seasons than Tshiebwe (1,084). Tshiebwe ranks 49th overall in scoring history in program history.

• He is third all-time with 47 double-doubles. Only Issel (64) and Nash (48) have more
• Tshiebwe had 37 points and 24 rebounds against Georgia this season. That was the first 35-point, 20-rebound game for a UK player since 1976 and just the fifth such game in program history
• In 2022, he became one of just three players to record at least 500 rebounds in a season. As a senior, his 394 rebounds are the most of any fourth-year player in school history bettering Issel’s mark of 369

• At Florida this season, Tshiebwe connected on 12 of 13 (92.3%) of his shots from the floor. That’s the best field-goal clip with the most attempts in program history
• He has amassed seven games of at least 20 rebounds as a Wildcat. All UK players combined since the 1970-71 season have totaled seven such games
• In two seasons with UK, Tshiebwe has gobbled up 34.8% of Kentucky’s rebounds. He’s snared 39.2% of UK’s offensive boards in that time
• With Tshiebwe leading the way, the Wildcats were tops in the country in rebound margin (+9.7) in 2022 and are third (+8.8) in 2023. UK ranked fourth in the country in offensive rebounding percentage (37.7%) a year ago and is second this season at 38.7%

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