February 22nd: On this date...

... in 2006, a 6'2" senior walk-on from Bourbon County had the game of his life during an 80-40 drubbing of the Ole Miss Rebels. Preston LeMaster, son of former Wildcat Jim LeMaster, played a career high 19 minutes and scored a career high 12 points as Big Blue had built a 40-17 lead by halftime. And not all of those minutes were second half minutes either. LeMaster actually helped build the Kentucky lead to 21-10 after hitting two three-pointers midway through the first half. He went on to hit two more in the second stanza for a perfect 4-4 on the afternoon. His fifth try rattled out, but the smile couldn’t be wiped from his face. The team as a whole was 9-21 on the day, LeMaster accounting for almost half. Sophomore Joe Crawford hit three of his own from deep, finishing with 17 points. Point guard Rajon Rondo finished the game with 12 of the team's 18 assists, versus only seven turnovers. Fourteen players saw court action in the arguably the season’s most complete performance. LeMaster, though, was the man of the hour, as he lived out every Kentucky kid’s dream of ballin’ out in Rupp Arena. The twelve points were nearly half of LeMaster’s career total of 30.

Big Blue Booyah on Tom Leach