Oscar performance

Kentucky forward Oscar Tshiebwe got tangled up twice with Arkansas big men Makhel Mitchell and Kamani Johnson, leading the officials to review the altercations.

Tshiebwe, who was held to 7 points and 8 rebounds during the Razorbacks’ 88-73 win at Rupp Arena on Feb. 7, exceeded those figures in the first half and finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out.

Tshiebwe dodged an ejection on an incident that stopped play less than four minutes into the game, initiated when he put a hand in the face of Mitchell. After the two pushed around in the paint for a moment, Tshiebwe unleashed a right elbow toward Mitchell’s face that CBS officials observer Gene Steratore suggested could have been a flagrant 2 foul and automatic ejection. Instead, double technicals were called on the play, which left Mitchell holding an ice pack to his face.

In the second half, Tshiebwe had a hand in the face of Johnson, leading to a flagrant 1 call.

“He starts getting frustrated,” Kentucky Coach John Calipari said. “You just get grabbed and pushed and held enough, you get frustrated.

“Watch the tape. You’re not allowed to block out facing someone. … The rulebook says you cannot face a guy and block them out. That’s a foul. So he gets frustrated with it.

“He’s trying to go rebound and the guy, it’s like a lineman in football putting two arms around a defensive player. It’s frustrating. You’re going to throw your arms and go crazy to get around him.”

Kentucky guard Jacob Toppin said he spoke to Tshiebwe about not losing his cool.

“He let it get to his head a little bit,” Toppin said. “It got a little dirty at times, where people were pushing and shoving closer to the neck-face area, so he had to get back and that’s what he did. … I told him he has to be smarter than that.”