COLUMN: Cats’ hopes will fall on Gillispie’s young guns

So much for that national ranking.

After Tuesday’s loss to Mississippi, UK’s short jaunt into the national rankings is almost sure to end as soon as it started.

The loss to Ole Miss was bad. The defensive effort was nonexistent, the offense was sub-par and the untouchable Jodie Meeks finally looked human.

But the Cats aren’t as bad as they looked Tuesday, and they likely aren’t as good as they looked at points during the five-game winning streak.

Michael Porter and fellow veteran starter Ramon Harris each found playing time hard to come by Tuesday. Porter ran into early foul trouble, and Harris’ return after fainting in Alabama didn’t go as he planned. The two juniors combined for 15 minutes played in the 85-80 loss to Ole Miss.

When two starters finish the game with 15 minutes played between them, someone on the bench has to step up, and freshmen Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins seem to fit the bill. Miller played 31 minutes in the game and Liggins played 34.

The season has been up and down for both Miller and Liggins. Neither player has found the playing time he might have expected coming into the season.

The low point of Liggins’ early UK career came in the Las Vegas Invitational when he refused to enter the game during the second half of UK’s 74-72 victory over Kansas State because he disagreed with the amount his coach was playing him.

Miller has played more than 30 minutes in five games, but has also played fewer than 15 minutes in nine.

After UK’s 61-51 victory at Alabama, UK head coach Billy Gillispie said most freshmen expect to come to college, and play as often and average as many points as they did in high school.

“I hope it happens for some guys,” Gillispie said. “But it’s not quite that easy.”

After Harris was taken to the hospital during halftime of the Alabama game, Miller played the entire second half for the Cats. He was on the court for the vast majority of the loss to Ole Miss.

Liggins has seen a similar increase in playing time recently. After not playing — because of a “coach’s decision” — in UK’s 90-72 victory at Tennessee, Liggins has averaged 23 minutes a game over the last four games.

During the second half of UK’s loss to Mississippi, the two freshmen were on the floor during vital minutes —and they made several freshman mistakes. The duo combined for six of the Cats’ 10 turnovers. Liggins was 3-of-16 from the field and 1-of-7 from behind the 3-point line. Miller was 4-of-10 from the field.

One could argue that a point guard that took 16 shots and only made three didn’t deserve to be on the court in a close game, but he did deserve it. Liggins appears to be the flavor of the week and will likely continue to play.

Liggins’ poor shot selection Tuesday did his teammates no favor, but Miller provided the Cats with a third scoring option with 12 points.

Gillispie called Miller a “future superstar” after the Cats’ 91-57 victory over Longwood on Nov. 24. The Cats don’t need Miller or Liggins to be superstars now — they need them to be consistent and avoid making freshman mistakes.

“(Miller) is a freshman, but the second half of your freshman year, you start playing like a sophomore,” Meeks said after the Cats’ victory in Alabama.

Miller and Liggins will continue to see important minutes for the Cats as the season progresses. While both may be superstars one day, the Cats already have two superstars today in Meeks and sophomore Patrick Patterson. The first step in the freshman duo’s maturation process is to defer to the veteran superstars.

Miller and Liggins are both key to this team reaching its potential. The “freshman excuse” won’t fly after Tuesday’s loss.

Meeks hit the nail on the head. For the Cats to succeed, their freshmen can’t play like freshmen anymore.

Jon Hale is a journalism senior. E-mail jhale@kykernel.com.