John Calipari’s basketball team is undefeated, ranked in the top five and generating more buzz than this state has experienced in years.But his team isn’t even playing the best basketball in Lexington.Yeah, I said it. John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson – they’re going to have to step it up a notch if they want to match what the UK women’s basketball team is doing on the court.Comparisons aside – because really, that team Cal has isn’t too shabby either – it’s hard to find a fault with the UK Hoops team right now. Fresh off a 107-53 throttling of Miami (Ohio) in Memorial Coliseum Tuesday night, it’s safe to say the Cats are playing the best basketball of the Matthew Mitchell era.”It was a fantastic night for us,” said Mitchell, now in his third year at the helm. “From watching film, I thought Miami had the ability to come in and be very tough tonight. We just played some terrific basketball.”
Fantastic. Terrific. Sparkling. Superb. They’re all indicative of a 7-0 opening to the year, the best start since opening the 2005-06 season 8-0.With the exception of a three-minute lull midway through the second half – really, who could blame the Cats for giving up a 14-5 run when they were already up 50 points? – they were just about flawless.Even the players had a hard time figuring out what, if anything went wrong. Senior guard Amani Franklin had to pause and think about it. “I think in the second half there was a spurt in there that we kind of let down,” Franklin said. “Basically that was it. For the most part, we were (clicking) on all cylinders.”They were motoring down the court going 100 miles per hour. Everything – and I mean everything – seemed to go right.In surpassing the 100-mark for the first time since 2005, the Cats shot 59.5 percent from the floor, out-rebounded the opposition by 17 and forced 28 turnovers, 14 of them off steals. Mitchell, never one to hide his emotions anyway, couldn’t help but revel at the total package his team put together against Miami. It would have taken something tragic to wipe the smile off his face. Who could blame him?”It’s a lot of fun,” Mitchell said. “I’ve been through some where (it didn’t happen like that), so I was very happy to be in this one tonight as a coach. It was great.”The most important thing to take from Tuesday was the downpour of 3-pointers from the Cats. Mitchell’s preseason assessment that this was a significantly better perimeter shooting team was more than qualified by a barrage of long-range daggers against the RedHawks.The Cats buried 12 treys in just 17 attempts, including two or more 3-pointers from Franklin, Keyla Snowden, Rebecca Gray and Carly Morrow.”I thought we gained tremendous confidence from executing against their zone early,” Mitchell said. “It was all about making the extra pass and sharing the basketball. We were moving bodies, we were moving the ball, and when that happens we’re pretty good. … No doubt, people get to feeling better when shots are going in. It does relax people and lets them make shots that they’re capable of making.”When the Cats are raining triples from the outside, it sheds double teams on junior forward Victoria Dunlap inside, allowing UK’s most complete player go to work in the paint. She did again Tuesday, tallying 21 points and 16 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the early season and 17th of her career.”It opens up a lot,” Dunlap said. “It takes a little bit (of pressure) off me in there trying to worry about posting up, but it’s obviously a good thing for our guards to be able to shoot. Teams now have to guard inside and outside.” It creates balance and rhythm, two things Miami was unable to contain. Six different UK players reached double figures, and Snowden nearly made it seven with nine points.”It starts with (Amber Smith), Vic is obviously a great weapon and then we’ve added some great pieces,” Mitchell said. “We just have some talented offensive players right now.”Not every night is going to be like Tuesday. Let’s be clear: The Cats could do no wrong against Miami. Those nights happen once or twice in a season. But the proof is in the body of work. Before Tuesday, UK was already averaging 78.2 points per game while holding its opponents 36.7 percent shooting on the year. If those averages hold up, it won’t matter if it’s a cold shooting night or a hot one. The Cats are finding ways to win, big or small.”The challenge for us is going to be when a night doesn’t go like tonight, can we continue to play defense, can we continue to hang our hat on defensive intensity?” Mitchell said. In this day and age in the Matthew Mitchell era when all cylinders seem to be clicking, the answer appears to be a resounding yes.