By: Stocktony
THANKS
I want to personally thank Bob Huggins. I’m not sure Oscar Tshiebwe needed any extra motivation this year, but some salty, left-at-the-altar vitriol from Huggy Bear sure can’t hurt. So, again, humbly, thanks, Bob.
And so the story goes: Oscar the Rebounding Machine (he is not a machine) Tshiebwe pulled down 28 rebounds Wednesday night against Western Kentucky. No slight to the Hilltoppers, but Oscar outrebounded their entire team—among them a 7’5”poet—by one board, the first time that has happened in UK history.
The numbers are astounding. But I was even more impressed when I considered the percentages.
Follow an English teacher down a math rabbit hole, if you will….
TOTALS:
Tshiebwe gathered 28 rebounds, the rest of the Cats 23, and the Tops 27. Add those up and you get 78.
Divide 28 by 78 (that’s how my 7th grade math teacher taught me to do percentages: the “of” into the “is”) and you get 35.89%…round up to 36%.
So, Oscar Tshiebwe got 36% of the total rebounds in the game. That’s super impressive. But wait!
Tshiebwe only played 35 minutes. Even though that’s a lot of time, it isn’t the full 40, meaning there were available rebounds that not even a rebounding beast like Oscar could get from the bench.
SHOTS (based on overall game average):
Both teams took more than 60 shots: UK 68 and Western 64. That’s 132 combined shots or 3.3/minute. Multiply 3.3 by 5 (the minutes Tshiebwe was on the bench) and we get 16.5 shots taken when Tshiebwe was not on the floor.
SHOOTING PERCENTAGES:
UK shot 55.9% while Western struggled against the Cats D and only managed to shoot 32.8%. Combined, that’s 44.35%. Quick math tells us that’s 9.2 missed shots Tshiebwe couldn’t rebound.
NEW TOTAL:
Take 9 away from the 78 total rebounds, and a new possible Tshiebwe rebound total emerges—69.
NEW PERCENTAGE:
Redo the percentage: 28/69 or 40.5%. Astoundingly, Tshiebwe collected 40.5% of the rebounds available during his time on the court. 👀👀
OUTRO:
Merry Christmas BBN, Coach Cal and the team, and even Bob Huggins. Hope you get a couple of new track suits and a third-round matchup against the Cats in March. I’m guessing Oscar will be ready.