Booker leads Cats to road win

Photo Courtesy of Hayley Pennesi

By Kyle Arensdorf

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Veterans are supposed to be the team’s go-to players, the ones who absorb the flak from hostile fans and perhaps even feed off of it.

For a few road games this season, sophomore guard Aaron Harrison was that player.

But for the majority of road games the Cats played, freshman guard Devin Booker has stepped up and been the guy.

The first halves of the last three road games haven’t been great for UK – down by two to Florida at halftime and up by four against LSU, as well as Tennessee on Tuesday.

Booker has had to be the savvy veteran in those situations, finding ways to affect every game, even when his 3-point shot isn’t falling.

In Gainesville, Fla., the Cats struggled for the first 20 minutes of the game, sinking only 11 shots (four of which were Booker’s).

At LSU he had nine of the Cats’ 38 first-half points.

Despite being overshadowed by fellow freshman Karl-Anthony Towns in that game, Booker made plays to keep his team in it when they were struggling, including a 2:40 stretch in which he scored seven of his nine first-half points.

Instead of making bad decisions and selfish mistakes like freshmen are supposed to do, he keeps his team afloat.

When the Cats experience their bad halves, they typically go away from the post in favor of a large number of 3-point shots. When those shots aren’t falling, they panic.

Booker has made a habit of being the team’s anchor, its beacon when things go awry.

He usually operates under the cuff, making little plays that help his team from the shadows.

But against Tennessee, he changed his ways.

Head coach John Calipari has made it a point all season to express the need for Booker to improve his rebounding.

Freshmen aren’t supposed to be the ones required to make those effort plays for their team.

They typically get by on 20 percent effort and 80 percent talent.

But Booker has been 100 percent effort in road games all season.

In eight road games this season, Booker is averaging 13.8 points per game.

He’s scored double-digit points in every road game but two.

Even when he doesn’t lead the team in scoring like he did Tuesday against Tennessee, his points come at the right time.

And that’s just what this supremely talented team calls for.