Of course he wanted to beat Duke on Sunday, but had you offered Matthew Mitchell a 12-1 run through a challenging pre-conference slate before the season, he would have taken the deal without hesitation.On Sunday, UK Hoops will have a shot at exactly that.”It’ll be important for us to practice well to get ready for Grambling State to see if we can close out,” Mitchell said. “If we are able to earn a victory it will really be a great nonconference season for us.”The No. 6 Wildcats (11-1) will play host to Grambling State (3-7) on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET in their final tune-up before Southeastern Conference play. The opponent might not have the name recognition of Louisville or Baylor — both of which UK has defeated this month — but the Cats will have to be ready.”Grambling State is a very quick, athletic team,” Mitchell said. “They really like to push the ball in transition, so that will be a challenge for us to sharpen up our transition defense that we had some breakdowns in, in the last game, so we’re going to be working hard on that.”Grambling State uses a deep rotation, but guard Joanna Miller is on the floor most all the time. The senior is averaging a team-high 18.2 points and 36.6 minutes, while senior forward Victoya Ricks is averaging 11.1 points and 8.1 rebounds.The Cats, however, are focused on themselves more than anyone else.UK is entering a vital portion of its schedule during the semester break. The Cats returned to campus after a short break for Christmas and now will be focusing on basketball and basketball alone until classes resume.Mitchell reported on Friday that his team posted a cumulative grade-point average of 3.1, the result of hours of work during the fall semester. They’ll get back to it in the classroom on Jan. 15 but until then the Cats will look to make strides on the floor in the additional time they will spend together.”… I think what will really tell the tale for us in conference will be how good can we practice over the next couple weeks because we need to make up some ground defensively and we need to sharpen up our press,” Mitchell said. “We’re going to work really hard on that today.”UK will devote individual practices to work on both ends of the floor, also spending plenty of time working on free throws. The Cats are shooting just 66.6 percent from the line through 12 games, including 21 for 48 over their lost two outings.Against Duke in particular, missed free throws were costly. UK missed 11 of its 19 attempts in a game that was ultimately decided by just eight points.”You’re not going to beat a team of Duke’s caliber shooting 8 for 19 many times,” Mitchell said. “You may shoot poorly, it happens; you can win games shooting poorly sometimes, but over the course of the season we need to shoot free throws better.”Mitchell was sure to say he believes his team is capable of shooting well from the line and his solution to recent woes is simple.”This morning they’re lifting right now and then we’ll go right into the gym and have a free-throw session,” Mitchell said. “It’s nothing but holding them accountable.”He will do that by setting goals.For example, the Cats were called on to him 80 percent from the line on Friday morning. If they fell short, they would have to shoot more free throws following evening practice. The ultimate goal is to shoot 78 percent as a team in games.”We’re just trying to get reps, mental focus, and mental preparation,” Mitchell said.