Kentucky and Tennessee will tip off Tuesday night at Thompson-Boling Arena nestled in second and third in the Southeastern Conference standings behind Auburn.
Yet the contrast in rebounding styles between the No. 4 Wildcats (21-4, 10-2 SEC) and the No. 16 Volunteers (18-6, 9-3) could not be greater.
While Kentucky continues to roll behind the rebound monster that is 6-foot-9, 255-pound junior forward Oscar Tshiebwe, the Vols employ more of an all-hands-on-deck approach that has its successful moments as well. In Tennessee’s 73-64 downing of visiting Vanderbilt this past Saturday night, the Vols racked up 41 rebounds compared to 31 by the Commodores.
Junior guard/forward Josiah-Jordan James led the way with 10 boards, while freshman point guard Kennedy Chandler, sophomore guard Justin Powell and sixth-year senior forward John Fulkerson each had six. Collecting three apiece were junior guard Santiago Vescovi, redshirt junior forward Uros Plavsic and freshman forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield.
Even Zakai Zeigler, the 5-foot-9 freshman backup point guard, came away with two.
“Early in the year, it was a major concern,” Vols coach Rick Barnes said. “We talked about blocking out, but we expect our guards to come and get into the fray. We need them to come down there and clean it up. Kennedy has a 6-foot, 7-inch wingspan, and Santi plays much bigger than his height. Zakai has the heart and will go in there and get in the mix.
“It’s got to be a team effort. We need to do that.”
Tennessee has won the rebound battle in every SEC home game this season, but maintaining that stat Tuesday (9 p.m. on ESPN) will be a significant challenge.
Kentucky Athletics photo / Kentucky junior forward Oscar Tshiebwe averages a staggering 15.3 rebounds per game entering Tuesday night’s showdown at Tennessee.Tshiebwe has amassed an eye-popping 382 rebounds this season, with his 15.3 rebounds per game leading everybody else nationally by more than two a contest. The SEC is not lacking for effective rebounders this season with the likes of Arkansas sophomore Jaylin Williams, Florida senior Colin Castleton and Auburn sophomore Walker Kessler, but their averages are 9.2, 8.8 and 8.5, respectively.
“He’s really tough, and he’s really physical,” James said. “You’ve got to keep him off the glass, but he has game-planned for it night in and night out and is having a phenomenal and a spectacular season. You’ve got to be physical with him because he’s going to be physical with you.
“You’ve got to bring the fight to him and know that he’s not going to back down.”
When Barnes was asked about Tshiebwe, he said, “You can’t talk about the national player of the year without talking about him.”
James is the leading rebounder for the Vols at 5.8 per contest, which ranks 14th in the league. Junior forward Olivier Nkamhoua is next among Tennessee players at 17th with an average of 5.6, but he is out for the season after having to undergo ankle surgery.
Fulkerson (23rd with 4.8) and Vescovi (29th at 4.5) also rank among the SEC’s top 30 rebounders, while junior forward Keion Brooks is second on Kentucky’s team with 4.6 a game, which ranks 26th in the league.
Kentucky’s 41.2 rebounds per game leads the SEC. Tennessee averages 36.4 per contest, which ranks eighth among the 14 teams.
“We can’t be the team we want to be defensively if we don’t clean it up,” Barnes said, “and we have to be a team on the offensive end that we’re not one-and-done if we’re playing the way we want to play.”
‘Especially special’
Despite last month’s 107-79 blowout loss in Lexington, the Vols have been on a competitive run recently against the Wildcats.
Tennessee is just 75-158 lifetime against Kentucky, which includes a 51-54 mark in Knoxville, but the Vols hold an 8-7 edge since Barnes became coach before the 2015-16 season.
“We try and go out to win each and every game,” James said, “but this one is especially special because of the rivalry and the history we have. No matter if it’s here or at Rupp Arena, it’s always special.”
Status unknown
Kentucky freshman guard TyTy Washington suffered a lower-leg injury in Saturday’s 78-57 thrashing of Florida, and his availability for Tuesday night is unknown.
The 6-3, 197-pounder from Phoenix is averaging 12.8 points and 3.8 rebounds a game and tallied a season-high 28 points in last month’s rout of the Vols.
Scheduling update
Tennessee’s home game against Auburn on Feb. 26 will have a 4 p.m. tip, it was announced Monday. It will be televised by either ESPN or ESPN2.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.