< Previous10 @KentuckyMBBYou can enjoy FREE * grocery delivery, 2X Fuel Points and more for as low as $59/year. *$35 order minimum. Restrictions apply. Subject to availability. Delivery time not guaranteed. Official Grocery Partner of UK AthleticsWEEKNIGHTS 7:30 p.m. SATURDAY 9:00 a.m.14 @KentuckyMBB From Press Row Kentucky and Kansas Highlight the Final SEC/Big 12 Challenge Saturday's matchup between Kentucky and Kansas headlines the final installment of the Big 12/SEC Challenge. The 2023 slate of the Big 12/SEC Chal- lenge games will mark the ninth season of the event, which has been held annually. It is also the final time the two leagues will compete in a challenge. The Southeastern Conference announced a new version of the challenge set to debut in the 2023-24 sea- son, with SEC teams taking on squads from the Atlantic Coast Conference. Ten of the SEC's 14 teams will participate in this year's Challenge against all of the Big 12's institutions, with each conference host- ing five games. The four SEC teams not par- ticipating will play each other in conference games that day. Kentucky is 5-3 in the challenge and has won its last four in a row, at Kansas (2022), at Texas Tech (2020), vs. Kansas (2019) and at West Virginia (2018). UK is 2-2 when playing Kansas in the Challenge. UK missed the matchup with Texas in 2021 due to COVID-19 issues within the UK program. #OscarWorthy Part II Senior Oscar Tshiebwe is once again in the thick of the conversation for the nation's best player after sweeping every major Na- tional Player of the Year honor a season ago. Tshiebwe currently leads the Cats in points per game (16.6), rebounds per game (13.9) and field-goal percentage (.587). He's second in steals per game (1.6) and blocks per game (1.0). In league play, Tshiebwe is averaging 17.4 points and 15.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 58.5% from the floor. He has six double-doubles. Tshiebwe put together a performance for the ages in a come-from-behind win over Georgia on Jan. 17. He poured in a ca- reer-high 37 points and added 24 rebounds. More about that historic performance: • The last Wildcat with a 35-point, 20-re- bound game was Mike Phillips, who had 35-20 vs. LSU on Feb. 2, 1976 • It was the the fifth 35-20 game in UK his- tory, also Phillips (listed above), Dan Issel (36- 29 vs. LSU on Feb. 22, 1969), Cotton Nash (34-20 vs. Tulane on Jan. 11, 1964) and Bill Spivey (40-34 vs. Xavier on Feb. 13, 1951) • Per ESPN, Tshiebwe’s 24 rebounds are the most for a Division I player with a 35-point game in the last 25 seasons • Per ESPN, Tshiebwe's 24 rebounds are the most in a 35-point performance in the last 25 seasons. UNC's Brice Johnson had 23 in 2016, Oklahoma's Blake Griffin had 23 in 2009 and Texas' Kevin Du- rant had 23 in 2007 • Tshiebwe (24) and teammate Jacob Toppin (11) combined for more re- bounds (35) than Georgia's entire team (31) • He became just the third player in program his- tory to have multiple games of at least 24 rebounds, joining Dan Issel and Cot- ton Nash as the only others to do so • It is the fourth 30-point game of his career • The 37-point game tied Malik Monk vs. Geor- gia (1/31/17) for most points in an SEC game and the third-most point in any contest in the Calipari era • Tshiebwe's 37-point, 24-rebound game against Georgia was the fifth such contest of his UK career (at least 22 points and at least 18 rebounds). He now has five of the eight games of 22 or more points and at least 18 rebounds by an SEC player in the last 10 seasons. No other player has more than one and the feat had not been accom- plished since South Carolina's Sindarius Thornwell did so against Alabama on Feb. 7, 2017 • Tshiebwe also has tallied four 20-point, 15-rebound games so far this season after seven a season ago. He has 11 of the 53 20-point, 15-rebound contests by SEC play- ers in the last 10 seasons • Tshiebwe has amassed six games of at least 20 rebounds in two seasons with the Cats. All UK players combined have to- taled five other 20-rebound games since the 1973-74 season 3J Fredrick and Antonio Threeves Making an Impact Seniors CJ Fredrick and Antonio Reeves both came to Kentucky with impressive re- sumes from previous schools. Fredrick was the nation's top-returning player in career 3-point field-goal percentage, while Reeves ranked among the nation's top 20 in points per game (20.1) a season ago. During UK's four-game winning streak, the duo has been vital to Kentucky's turnaround. It won't show up on a box score, but Fredrick's leadership has perhaps been the most vital attribute to this team. That hasn't stopped him from producing in a big way however: • Fredrick has scored in double-figures in four of his last five games. He's averag- ing 10.4 points per game during that stretch and has knocked down an average of two 3-pointers per game. Against Vanderbilt, he also chipped in with a game-high-tying five assists Reeves showed flashes of his ability to put the ball in the basket after leading the team in scoring during its foreign tour this summer and knocking down six 3-pointers in his debut against Howard. However, Reeves has become a clutch player for the Cats and made an immediate impact off the bench. • Reeves has reached double-figure scoring in each of the last six games and scored a season-high 23 points in UK's win over Texas A&M. Over that six-game stretch, he's drained 15 3-pointers and is shooting 46.2% from the floor and 38.5% from be- hind the arc. Furthermore, it's his clutch play down the stretch that has paid dividends. Reeves scored 10 points over the final eight min- utes against Tennessee and seven against Texas A&M.MOP IT LIKE IT ' S HOTMOP IT LIKE IT ' S HOTInside The Numbers 18 @KentuckyMBB KANSAS (16-4) AT KENTUCKY (14-6) Series Breakdown Overall - UK, 24-10 at Lexington - UK, 8-2 Calipari vs. KU - 5-7 Self vs. UK - 7-6 Current UK streak - W1 John Calipari Bill Self Overall Record: 824-247* Overall Record: 775-233 Record at UK: 379-107 Record at KU: 572-128 Overall Seasons: 31st Overall Seasons: 30th at Kentucky: 14th at Kansas: 20th * on court record UK Statistic KU 75.7 Points Per Game 75.9 39.3 Rebounds PG 37.0 16.3 Assists PG 17.1 4.3 Blocks PG 4.1 6.9 Steals PG 8.9 11.6 Turnovers PG 12.6 .457 FG Pct. .465 .369 3-Pt. FG Pct. .357 .680 FT. Pct. .720 1.4 Assist-to-TO Ratio 1.4 THE MATCHUPTALE OF THE TAPE • Move UK to 9-2 all-time against the Jayhawks in games played in Lexington • Be the Cats' second in a row over an AP top-10 team • Improve UK to 6-3 in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge and 3-2 against Kansas in the challenge • Improve Kentucky's record at home to 12-1 this season A UK WIN WOULD... 49 SEC regular-season titles in program history 31 SEC Tournament championships +8.6 SEC-leading rebounding margin 13.95 SEC-leading offensive rebounds per game BY THE NUMBERSNext >