John Calipari defends Chris Livingston after fouling 3-point shooter in final seconds vs LSU

Kentucky coach John Calipari was clearly not pleased with true freshman Chris Livingston after he fouled Cam Hayes on a 3-point attempt in the waning seconds Tuesday against LSU.

The mistake resulted in three free throws for Hayes, allowing the Tigers to cut the UK lead to 72-71 with 10 seconds remaining. That put the pressure on veteran forward Jacob Toppin to make a pair of late free throws. Thankfully, Toppin delivered as the Wildcats went on to survive with a 74-71 victory.

In his postgame press conference, Calipari harped on the foul from Livingston for a moment before going on to add that he was impressive with the freshman’s performance overall.

“Fouling a 3-point shooter?” Calipari said. “Are you kidding me? He’s a freshman. He didn’t know you can’t knock the guy down when he shoots. Played a good game, though. How about how hard Chris plays and how active he is? With all that we have, him playing that way, think of the difference he makes.”

Livingston played 29 minutes on Tuesday, his highest total this season. He finished the game with five points on 1-of-5 shooting while adding one rebound and one assist.

Kentucky kept its rotation tight against LSU, playing just seven players. Toppin led the team with 21 points in the win, while big man Oscar Tshiebwe chipped in 19 points and 16 boards while playing all 40 minutes.

The victory improved Kentucky to 10-4 this season and was also their first SEC win after dropping the conference opener against Missouri last week. It’s been a rough start to the season for the Wildcats, who began the year at No. 4 in the AP poll but are now unranked.

John Calipari knows growing pains will happen with Chris Livingston being a true freshman, but UK will need him at it gets into the thick of conference play. So far this season the five-star recruit is averaging 5.7 points and 2.9 rebounds across 16.1 minutes per game.

Livingston’s next chance to make an impact will come Saturday in a big-time road matchup against No. 7 Alabama.