Devin Booker and UK will travel to Missouri for a rematch with the Tigers on Thursday. (Elliott Hess, UK Athletics)
Kentucky entered its first matchup with Missouri a heavy favorite and the game proceeded accordingly.Two weeks later, it’s time for the rematch. The result, then, would figure to be the same, right?John Calipari isn’t so sure.”There’s a reason you play the games,” Calipari said. “The last score does not matter. Whether you won or lost has no bearing on the game you’re about to play, especially in college.”Well, maybe some bearing after all. The Tigers (7-12, 1-5 Southeastern Conference), says Coach Cal, will be smarting a bit when the top-ranked Wildcats (19-0, 6-0 SEC) come to Columbia, Mo., on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET, not far removed from an 86-37 loss.”I think the last game helps them a lot more than it helps us,” Calipari said. “Probably stung them a little bit.”Marcus Lee, who has earned a more regular role in recent weeks by playing with the kind of inexorable energy Calipari demands of the 6-foot-9 sophomore, believes the same.”They’re just going to try to go twice as hard and just go at us like there’s nothing else to lose,” Lee said. “That’s how everybody has to go throughout each game no matter who you’re playing.”Also working in Missouri’s favor is the site of Thursday’s game. Rather than dealing with a hostile road crowd in Rupp Arena, the Tigers will be playing in the familiar surroundings of Mizzou Arena.”It’s totally different,” Devin Booker said. “It’s a road game. So our fans back at Rupp, they helped us a lot during that game, so I feel like their fans are going to try to do the same for them, so we just have to play against ourselves again. That’s been like the topic of the season is playing against ourselves and not worrying about who our opponent is.” Booker, the three-time defending SEC Freshman of the Week, has embraced that attitude, but he won’t be able to help but think about UK’s opponent this time around.His father, Melvin, was an All-American at Missouri in the early 1990s. To add fuel to the fire, Booker was recruited by Missouri starting when he was in middle school and has attended “four or five” games there.”I’ve actually seen some pretty big games there–when they beat Kansas at their place, so it’s a crazy environment,” Booker said. “The student section showed me a lot of love. I’m sure it’ll be different now, but I understand, so it’s all good.”If anyone can cope with that, it’s Booker.The freshman guard has been unflappable so far in his UK career, averaging 14.5 points on 56.3-percent shooting (52.6 percent from 3) in four true road games. Those games have come during an extended hot streak that’s spanned more than six weeks, as Booker has hit 22-of-33 3-point tries over his last nine games to bring his season shooting percentage to .500.”That’s pretty salty,” said Missouri head coach Kim Anderson, who was an assistant at Missouri when Booker’s father played there.Along the way, Booker has refused to take any heat checks normally expected of a shooter in such a rhythm. That includes the first Missouri matchup, in which Booker attempted only two field goals.”I’ve based my game off, my whole life, playing the right way and doing what I have to do to win,” Booker said. “So if that was shooting the ball only, what, two times, then that’s what I had to do. So just make the most out of it scoring, but if scoring isn’t what I have to do then I’m fine with it. We won by 49, so I’m totally OK with it.”Booker, no matter whether he’s shooting or not, has proven himself to be willing to do whatever is asked of him, even on defense. Coach Cal might not have believed he would be able to defend as well as he has during the recruiting process, but Booker is making an impact on both ends now.”I saw his dad after the South Carolina game and I said to Melvin, ‘Look, I never thought he would defend this way,’ ” Booker said. ” ‘Do you remember me coming and watching you and your friends — 45-year olds — playing against your son? He couldn’t guard anybody in that game.’ Now all of a sudden, he’s guarding.”Booker was relied so heavily to score in high school that defense was never a priority. Now playing on a deep team on a historic defensive pace, his mentality has changed.”I feel like it’s come a long way,” Booker said. “Me and my dad talked about it a lot in high school that, you know, when I get to the next level I’m going to have to defend, so it’s something I’ve focused on. I’ve figured out it’s more of any effort thing than a skill, so if you out your effort towards it, it’ll become easier.” Booker’s defense will be tested against Missouri, as highly touted freshman Montaque Gill-Caesar is back in the lineup and playing well after a three-game absence that included the first UK game. Gill-Caesar is second on the team in scoring at 10.8 points per game after scoring 16 on 3-of-3 3-point shooting in 61-60 loss against Arkansas over the weekend.If you needed any more proof of Gill-Caesar’s ability, Coach Cal recruited him.”He was a great kid,” Calipari said. “Hard worker, very competitive, tough. He will mix it up. This will change the complexion of the game. They needed one more guy to mix it up and that’s what he’ll do. Plus, he can score. He can score baskets for them, which they struggled (with). “Calipari is concerned about contending with Gill-Caesar, but his primary focus is elsewhere, as it has been all season.”I would say for us I’m just focused on us getting better,” Calipari said. “That’s all it is. Trying some new stuff and messing around and getting these guys to continue to compete against one another.”