Chris Livingston took full advantage of his first big opportunity

Kentucky men’s basketball head coach John Calipari has mentioned several times throughout the season how he needs to find more minutes for Chris Livingston. Not so coincidentally, Livingston playing a season-high in minutes on Saturday night resulted in his best game yet as a Wildcat.

The freshman forward dropped a team-high (and career-best) 14 points in Kentucky’s 63-53 loss to UCLA in Madison Square Garden. While there are myriad things fans will point to as the reasons why UK struggled for most of the contest, Livingston was not one of them. His 24 minutes were also a personal best as he contributed four rebounds and a block while shooting 5-8 from the floor and 2-3 from beyond the arc.

On a night where Kentucky shot just 5-13 from the free throw line, Livingston stepped up to connect on two of his three attempts.

“I just think I was being very patient on the offensive end. Not settling for jump shots but getting around the painted area — shooting floaters first — and then that got myself going, allowed my jump shot to start falling,” Livingston said postgame.

What a game by Chris Livingston

— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) December 18, 2022

Whether he was playing at the “3” alongside the likes of Oscar Tshiebwe and Jacob Toppin/Lance Ware or sliding down for a few minutes at the “4” spot, Livingston was effective. The bulk of his production came in the second half as he and Ware began to inject some energy into the Wildcats. Livingston contributed 11 of Kentucky’s 26 second-half points, playing 18 of a possible 20 minutes. He was the only Wildcat who shot better than 50 percent from the floor in the second half.

In a game where Kentucky showed very little fight in the first half, Livingston took it upon himself to bring the effort — to the point where Calipari had no choice but to leave the rookie on the court.

“We needed toughness on the floor,” Calipari said of why Livingston played more minutes.

Livingston had seen his minutes dwindle since the season began. He opened the schedule with back-to-back games of 19 minutes played but failed to reach that mark again until Saturday night. In previous high-profile matchups, Livingston played 12 minutes against Michigan State, eight against Gonzaga, and seven against Michigan. But he never let his lack of clock get him too far down.

“That’s why my respect for Chris is off the charts and it has been, because he never stops working in practice,” Calipari said. “Other guys were having the first opportunity and now, all the sudden, he has the opportunity. He’s not pouting, he just showed you what he was.”

If any Kentucky freshman was expected to have a breakout night, it was Cason Wallace. Instead, Livingston broke out to show why he was also a five-star recruit out of high school. The next step is doing what he did to UCLA on a regular basis.