LEXINGTON, Ky. — Oscar Tshiebwe matched a Rupp Arena record for rebounding as Kentucky routed Robert Morris 100-60 on Friday night.
Tshiebwe, who stated a desire to average 20 rebounds a game this season, might have underestimated a standard he could set.
The transfer from West Virginia grabbed 20 rebounds, which equaled the Rupp Arena record shared by two UK players, Chris Mills against Miami (Ohio) on Dec. 17, 1988, and Jared Prickett against Arkansas on Feb. 9, 1994.
Tshiebwe’s play typified how Kentucky met the goal of maintaining the intensity shown in the opening-game loss to Duke.
Kentucky shot well from 3-point range, making 12 of 23.
Kellan Grady and Davion Mintz led the way, making four each. Grady led UK in scoring with 19 points. Mintz added 13.
Kentucky reached the century mark in points for the first time since beating Illinois Chicago 107-73 on Nov. 26, 2017.
It was a short-handed Kentucky team that had its way with in Robert Morris.
Jacob Toppin, who was billed as capable of being the Southeastern Conference’s best defender, did not play. Reportedly a shoulder injury made him unavailable. And CJ Fredrick, the transfer from Iowa who has yet to play, used crutches to make his way to a seat on the bench.
Against a Robert Morris team playing its second game in three days (with travel from Orlando to Lexington in between), Kentucky never trailed. The game was tied for only the first 17 seconds. UK led by double-digits for the final 26:06 and all but 20 seconds of the final 30 minutes.
Kentucky never trailed and led 46-30 at halftime.
A revived TyTy Washington and continuing rebounding en masse by Tshiebwe highlighted the opening 20 minutes.
Washington, who made three of 14 shots and scored nine points against Duke, had 10 in the first half. He made five of eight shots, which included fast-break layups and a pair of old-school pull-up jumpers.
Tshiebwe, who had 20 rebounds against Duke, had all of UK’s first five rebounds. He finished the half with nine.
Kentucky met the stated goal of getting to the free-throw line more often. After shooting only seven foul shots against Duke, UK matched that total barely eight minutes into the game.
It might be noticed that Kentucky did not shoot another free throw in the final 11:43 of the first half. It finished making eight of 12.
Meanwhile, Robert Morris missed its first five 3-point shots. That made the Colonials 4 for 28 for the season. The visitors warmed up a bit, making four of its next seven shots from beyond the arc.
But this added little drama to a half that saw Kentucky lead by double-digits for all but 20 seconds of the half’s final 9:19.
As the second half began, Kentucky seemed to remove any possibility of a Robert Morris rally or even more competitive action.
UK made its first five shots and led 58-38 with 17:06 left.
Tshiebwe grabbed his 10th rebound with 15:37 left. That assumed him a second double-double to start the season.
By the second TV time, Tshiebwe had 14 points and 14 rebounds. Kentucky led 68-44.
