DeAndre Liggins wasn’t doing something right. That much was clear.The second-year guard, once hailed as the future point guard of the Kentucky basketball program, rode the pine for the first eight games and didn’t even make the trip to New York City to face Connecticut. Neither John Calipari, Liggins nor UK officials will say why Liggins didn’t play the first part of the season, but it was crystal clear that Liggins wasn’t holding up part of his end of the bargain.”You put contracts together for kids that this is what you’re going to have to do before playing and then they have to do it and you live by it,” Calipari said. “If it takes them longer than it was supposed to then it’s too bad. These kids have got to be responsible; they’ve got to be held accountable.”Whatever Liggins did or didn’t do, he has apparently taken responsibility for it. After a mysterious absence from the UK lineup, Liggins made a last-minute appearance in the Indiana game and has seen steady playing time in the last two games. Against Drexel on Monday, Liggins played 11 minutes, scoring six points on 2-of-2 shooting from behind the 3-point arc.”The biggest thing is you watch him go into the game, he’s going to be an effective player for us and he’s accepting his role,” Calipari said. “Instead of show time, turnover, missed shot, air ball, it’s going to be, ‘I’m going to be that stopper. I’m going to be that defensive guy that goes in and absolutely takes them out of what they want do because of how I play perimeter people. If they’ve got a guy scoring, I’m going to guard him.’ “Liggins has always had the physical tools to land at Kentucky. As Calipari explained, he’s athletic, he’s tough and he’s strong, not to mention he has an above average wingspan for an already lengthy 6-foot-6 guard. To get on the court, Liggins had to embrace the role of a defense stopper, a la Ramon Harris.”I defended, guarded the ball very well, knocked down a couple of open shots,” Liggins said of his performance Monday night. “That’s what (Calipari) wants me to do, is (if) I’ve got a couple of open shots, take them (and) just pick up the energy and try to be a leader defensively.”Liggins declined to address why he has struggled to find playing time early on, but he said he’s learned a lot from watching his teammates play. “I had a great chance to focus on my academics and got to see how things were, how the team was playing, just learning different things why you aren’t playing,” Liggins said.Liggins, as bright and as respectful as he can be at times, has always been quiet and reserved, almost to a point where one would expect him to distance himself from the team and sulk during a tough time. To his credit, though, that never happened.According to Liggins’ teammates, he held his head high and continued to work.”He’s done well,” Calipari said. “Obviously he didn’t have a choice because if he didn’t handle it well he wouldn’t have played.””It was hard,” Liggins said. “I just put everything in God’s hands and tried to be positive every day and come to practice and work hard. Things will take care of itself.”With everything that’s gone on during Liggins’ career at UK – his on-again, off-again relationship with the former coach, the rumors of a transfer, his uncertainty with the team when Calipari took over, etc. – it would have been easy for him to cave in.However, this isn’t the same Liggins that found himself on the bench at the beginning of the year.”It’s just growing up,” Liggins said. “Last year I probably wouldn’t have (done) that. It’s just growing up and being more mature.”