John Clay’s Sidelines

Photo by Pablo Alcala.

Freshmen can be a trial, to their coaches, to their teammates. Take the curious case of DeAndre Liggins. UK’s freshman guard was 30 minutes late for Saturday’s game with Indiana. He apparently missed his ride to Rupp, and showed up as the team was already participating in warm-ups. It was why, if you noticed, the Illinois native stayed behind to do a little extra shooting after the rest of the team was on its way back to the lockerroom.

Once he entered the game, Liggins kept shooting. He didn’t start, but was an early pick off the bench. By halftime, Liggnis had taken four shots in eight minutes, one for every two minutes played. He had turned it over three times. He played wired, jazzed-up, as if he was too eager to make things happen.

Liggins calmed won in the second half, going one-of-two from the floor in his 15 minutes, though he did turn the ball over three times, with just one assist. That gave him six turnovers for the game. For his last three games, Liggins’ stat line shows 13 assists and 12 turnovers. He hasn’t made a three-pointer since the Lamar game, going 0-for-11 in his last three games beyond the line.

Of course, there was the Las Vegas episode. You know that one. Second half of UK’s Friday night win over Kansas State, Liggins refused Billy Gillispie’s order to go in the game. Next night, all forgiven, Liggins played 27 minutes in helping the Cats to a comeback win over West Virginia in the title game.

All part of growing up. But you can’t help thinking the Cats need Liggins to grow up a little quicker. This is a team averaging over 20 turnovers per game, that turned it over 23 times in Saturday’s win over the Hoosiers. Liggins may not be a polished point guard, but he has the tools to be a good point guard. He is long, athletic, can see over smaller defenders. But he’s a freshman. And freshmen can be a trial.

Liggins stats since Las Vegas: