Deandre Liggins

Kentucky guard DeAndre Liggins knows how hard it is to defend freshman teammate Doron Lamb. “It’s real difficult,” Liggins said Monday. “He’s a smart player (and) he knows the game. He can jump, he can shoot the ball well, he can do a lot of things. It’s always difficult to guard him.” Winthrop had a hard time defending Lamb, who scored 32 points, a school record for a freshman, in the Wildcats’ 89-52 victory over the Eagles last week at Rupp Arena.

LEXINGTON - Not often does DeAndre Liggins let his mind wander away from what is happening on the basketball court. He had enough of those lapses his first two seasons to learn he couldn’t do that this year and be the player coach John Calipari and Kentucky needed him to be. However, for just a brief instant or two, Liggins did glance into the stands Saturday and wink/smile. “My family from Chicago was here. My cousins. I was just looking at them,” Liggins grinned and said after No. 13 Kentucky’s 82-44 win over LSU in Rupp Arena.

Connecticut is the next on Kentucky’s list. The Huskies are one of eight teams which defeated the Wildcats during the regular season and one of two teams Kentucky has yet to get revenge against heading into this weekend’s Final Four in Houston. The Wildcats succeeded in rematches against Florida twice, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina. Avenging a loss to Arkansas is impossible, but defeating the Huskies is within reach. The Cats’ track record against foes they lost to has been remarkable during the postseason.

LEXINGTON — Glancing at Terrence Jones’ totals, it seemed that the Kentucky freshman had another solid game in Saturday’s 85-60 win over Mississippi Valley State here. However, numbers can be misleading, or at least that is what UK coach John Calipari said after Jones finished with 19 points, eight rebounds, two blocked shots and one steal in only 23 minutes of play. “They are an athletic team that comes at you. They were physical. So some of our guys didn't play up to snuff,” said Calipari.

KNOXVILLE - Sometimes what a player does best to help a team might not show in the statistics, or at least not his postgame stats. That was the case with Kentucky junior DeAndre Liggins here Sunday in UK’s 64-58 win over Tennessee. He had six points on 3-for-5 shooting, six rebounds and three assists in 28 minutes before fouling out late in the game. However, it was his defense on Scotty Hopson, Tennessee’s leading scorer, and his aggressive play in the first half when teammates seemed to be backing down from the host Vols that drew postgame praise from coach John Calipari and his players.

ATLANTA - DeAndre Liggins knew something out of the ordinary might be about to happen when Mississippi’s Reggie Buckner slowed down as he was leaving the Georgia Dome court. Kentucky had just defeated Ole Miss 75-66 Friday in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinals when a near-brawl broke out when Buckner tried to take a swing at Liggins, UK’s junior guard. Liggins and Buckner had exchanged words several times during the game. “I might have said something to him coming off the court,” said Liggins.

TAMPA - It's hard to imagine a player who only scored three points perhaps being the most valuable player in Kentucky’s nail-biting 71-63 win over West Virginia here Saturday, but that just shows how important DeAndre Liggins' defense can be. In the first half, West Virginia guard Joel Mazzulla — the same player who ended UK’s national title hopes with a career game in the Elite Eight last year — had 15 points on 5-for-7 shooting...

LEXINGTON - Terrence Jones has grown to know DeAndre Liggins well enough to know his Kentucky teammate was excited. “You could just tell by the way he talked. He was so excited. They had been planning this for a while, so he was really excited,” said Jones. What had Liggins so excited even before Kentucky beat Georgia 66-60 was that his mother, sister and cousins had made the five-hour drive from Chicago to see him play for the first time this season. “They all took off work and I am so happy that they showed up and we won,” said Liggins, who had 11 points, two steals, two rebounds, one blocked shot and one assist in 36 action-packed minutes.

The plan was for DeAndre Liggins to get more shots, but the Kentucky junior did much more than that Tuesday night. Liggins did almost everything possible on both ends of the court for the Wildcats to help Kentucky beat Tennessee 73-61 in a game it desperately needed to win to keep alive its chances to compete for a Southeastern Conference championship. Liggins tied his career high with 19 points thanks to a variety of offensive moves, but he also had five steals, five rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes.

The plan was for DeAndre Liggins to get more shots, but the Kentucky junior did much more than here Tuesday night. Liggins did almost everything possible on both ends of the court for the Wildcats to help Kentucky beat Tennessee 73-61 in a game it desperately needed to win to keep alive its chances to compete for a Southeastern Conference championship. Liggins tied his career high with 19 points thanks to a variety of offensive moves, but he also had five steals, five rebounds and three assists in 37 minutes.