Cats Must Find 'Attack Mode' in Facing South Carolina

South Carolina is one of the foremost powers in women’s college basketball for good reason, and that starts with the Gamecocks’ potent inside duo of A’ja Wilson and Alaina Coates.

The pair averages more than 30 points and 18 rebounds per game and presents a combination of size, strength and skill that few teams in the country – if any – can match.

That’s why Kentucky isn’t even going to try.

“So, you just have to put a good plan together and play to your strengths,” Matthew Mitchell said. “If you sit around worrying about those two, all you’re going to do is worry because they are not going to probably lose any height or athleticism between now and Thursday night, so you’ve got to go play. Do what you do to the best of your ability.”

When the No. 25/RV Wildcats (15-7, 6-3 Southeastern Conference) play host to the No. 6/4 Gamecocks (18-2, 8-1 SEC) on Thursday at 7 p.m. in Memorial Coliseum, Mitchell knows his team can’t overhaul itself to compete with South Carolina. He also knows the Cats don’t have to in order to win the game.

“We’re going to have to get into attack mode between now and Thursday night when the ball goes in the air,” Mitchell said. “It will be a great challenge for our team and we’re looking forward to preparing for victory.”

“Attack mode” was the phrase of the day as Mitchell previewed the matchup – which will be a “Blue Out” game in Memorial. With a road loss to Missouri on Monday night still fresh on his mind, Mitchell knew the effort the Cats gave would have to go to the next level three days later for the Cats to face the challenge of taking down the three-time defending SEC champion Gamecocks.

“I thought last night it was not as if we didn’t hustle,” Mitchell said. “We just were outhustled. So you give Missouri the credit for that, but you’ve got to get that corrected between now and Thursday night. You’ve just got to play with a lot more energy and enthusiasm so you can really play with great effort. But that’s really our formula for any SEC game.”

When UK is on defense, Mitchell says that formula is about keeping the ball out of the paint and limiting second chances. On offense, the Cats must attack in transition, find opportunities to drive the ball and make 3-pointers when they’re there.

“This is grown-up basketball here,” Mitchell said. “You’ve got to be ready to go out and give a great effort and turn it loose and go at them.”

UK will be the underdog come Thursday, but that’s been the case for much of this season. With an already short bench made shorter by a series of bumps and bruises, UK has managed to weather the storm of one of the nation’s most difficult schedules to position itself well for the season’s stretch run. 

The next hurdle comes in the form of South Carolina.

“I think we are – I don’t know if exceeding expectations is the right thing – we just were trying to bring this team together to play our very best and we felt like if we played our best we could be a very good team,” Mitchell said. “And I think we’re on the way to doing that.”