Pre-Game Report: Oscar Tshiebwe IN Against Michigan State

The Wildcats welcome back the reigning NPOY.

No. 4 Kentucky will take on Michigan State with a full roster tonight inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Superstar center Oscar Tshiebwe is dressed and warming up ahead of the Wildcats' Champions Classic tilt, with all signs pointing towards the reigning National Player of the Year making his season debut. Head coach John Calipari announced that Tshiebwe will not be starting, but will play against MSU. 

Stadium's Jeff Goodman reported earlier today that barring a change, Tshiebwe would play against the Spartans: 

Barring a last-minute change, Kentucky big man and last year’s National Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe expected to make his season debut tonight against Michigan State at the Champions Classic, source told @Stadium. Decision hasn’t been made yet whether he will start or not.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) November 15, 2022

Tshiebwe did not participate in Big Blue Madness, the Blue-White Scrimmage, either of UK's exhibitions or the first two games of the regular season. On Oct. 11, Calipari announced via Twitter that Tshiebwe was set to undergo a "minor 15-minute" procedure on his knee to "clean some things up."

In the lead-up to the regular season, it was thought that Tshiebwe would sit out the preseason and perhaps a game or two, but that there would be no long term impact from the knee injury.

Following the win over Duquesne last Friday, Calipari was unsure if the Cats would welcome their star big man to the rotation this Tuesday in Indianapolis.

"I don't know yet," he said. "(Tshiebwe)'s got to go through some workouts and if it swells or does stuff, we're just going to have to wait. That surgery, he's ahead of schedule, but, you know, you’ve got to be able to stop and turn and, you know, it's not ligament or anything like that. But there was an operation where they went inside that area where it will still be sore for a minute."

When speaking to reporters on Monday, Calipari again had no concrete announcement on whether or not Tshiebwe would play against the Spartans:

"He's supposed to practice today, so we'll have a better idea," he said. "He's been doing that the conditioning stuff, just hadn't been on that court and that's totally different. My guess would be he plays three or four minutes at a stretch, If he plays."

It remains unknown to what capacity off the bench Tshiebwe will play against MSU tonight. 

Sophomore forward Daimion Collins will also make his season debut after missing the first two games of the 2022-23 campaign due to the passing of his father. 

"I would expect Daimion to play, yes," Calipari said on Monday. "I would say he's good to go."

Collins did not play in either game last week after leaving the team due to the passing of his father, Ben. For more on the unfortunate circumstance, click here. Calipari said on Nov. 7 that Collins would return to be with the team throughout this past week, but was returning home for his father's funeral, which took place last weekend.

While Collins will be on the court, Calipari remains uncertain on how he'll perform given what's transpired over the past week and a half:

"Damien had two days of practice before he left. Then we came back. I mean, how's he do? We have no idea of going in and that's why I've said all along, it's gonna take us time to get this right."

Wildcats Today will have live updates from Gainbridge Fieldhouse as Kentucky looks to defeat the Spartans.