Slump now over, Devin Booker keys win over Boston University

Kentucky+center+Dakari+Johnson+blocks+a+Boston+University+player+during+the+first+half+of+the+UK+mens+basketball+game+vs.+Boston+University+Rupp+Arena+in+Lexington+%2C+Ky.%2C+on+Friday%2C+November+21%2C+2014.+Photo+by+Jonathan+Krueger

Kentucky center Dakari Johnson blocks a Boston University player during the first half of the UK men’s basketball game vs. Boston University Rupp Arena in Lexington , Ky., on Friday, November 21, 2014. Photo by Jonathan Krueger

By Nick Gray

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When he walked into Rupp Arena Friday, freshman guard Devin Booker had yet to show the kind of scoring prowess he was recruited for nationally during his high school career.

It especially showed Tuesday against Kansas, when he flat misfired on a trio of open looks from the perimeter on his way to a 2-of-8 performance. More alarmingly, his teammates on the second platoon looked an often open Booker off in the second half.

“Shooters keep shooting,” he said after Friday’s win over Boston University. “That’s what people tell me.”

He continued to shoot, and in his fourth college game, Booker finally gave the Cats a solid glance into just how good of scorer he can be.

His second-half flurry — 11 points in a span of four minutes, including three 3-pointers — shook Booker out of his funk and shot UK’s lead from a tenuous eight-point advantage to 16 points.

Booker’s issues were not necessarily his form, even though he saw that his feet were not always even on his shots on Tuesday, but it was a case, he said, of happenstance along with confidence from his coach, John Calipari.

“It’s kinda easier when a coach has confidence in you like that,” Booker said. “I was a little frustrated in the head because shots weren’t falling. I want to win, but you have to doing what you do and do the fundamentals that you learned how you shoot, and hope it goes down.”

Also standing out was Booker’s seven assists, a career-high and an abnormal number for a player long labeled as a scorer. The number did not fool Calipari, who correctly mentioned that the freshman had four lobs that accounted for assists — meaning that Booker was not dishing out assists in the manner of Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo or, say, Andrew Harrison.

“I think he had Aaron ahead of him and he kept dribbling, and I just took him out,” Calipari said of one play. “If a guy is ahead of you, you throw it to him. There’s things that are unacceptable that these young kids don’t know yet.”

Regardless of Calipari’s initial observations, and some of those comments are not complete exaggerations about his freshman guard, good things happened when Booker had the ball, especially as the platoons were shaken up due to foul trouble and the game-wide lack of fluidity from the Cats.

Especially if Booker continues to play in UK’s second platoon, his scoring and overall ability to create will be very important as teams try to key on freshman forward Trey Lyles, as has been the case in the last two games.

When the Cats need him, though, is an operative phrase. They likely win without Booker’s output in the second half, but it did make life in the final six minutes much easier.

“It’s an adjustment you have to make from high school to college,” Booker said. “When you have a team like this, and you’re not shooting and scoring, then you can involve yourself in different ways to contribute the win.”

Friday, Booker did both.