Leading by 36 points at halftime and progressively more as the second half wore on against Jacksonville State, Matthew Mitchell’s players had plenty of reasons. The Wildcats could have easily backed off of their signature high pressure defense that was forcing Gamecock turnovers left and right and coasted to an easy victory. On this Tuesday morning and afternoon, the Cats would do no such thing.Maintaining its intensity throughout, UK Hoops sprinted out to an early lead and never let up en route to a 100-25 assault on the school record book.”With eight minutes left, they could have taken down their intensity and stopped hustling and we still would have won the game,” Mitchell said. “They didn’t do that and I’m proud of them for sustaining the effort. That’s probably the thing I’m happiest about today.”In front of a crowd of 6,842, many of which were sixth graders who enjoyed every moment of the blowout victory, No. 17/15 UK (2-0) forced an astounding 48 turnovers, shattering a previous record of 43. The Cats had as many steals as the visiting Gamecocks (0-2) had points, and the 25-point defensive performance tied another school record set in 1974. UK’s 75-point margin of victory was the second widest in the history of the program.From day one, Mitchell has been excited about the prospects of his team. Much of his optimism has stemmed from how good the Wildcats were capable of being on the defensive end. That potential was on full display against on Tuesday in Memorial Coliseum.”They just have so much ability athletically,” Mitchell said. “With their quickness and their strength, they have all the tools to be a great team defensively. They have the tools to be the best we’ve ever had.”Now that the Cats have gotten a clear view of how high their ceiling is, Mitchell said it’s up to them to determine the heights they’ll reach.”What remains to be seen is whether they’ll embrace the fundamentals day in and day out to do that throughout the course of the season,” Mitchell said. “They certainly have a chance to be the best defensive team and we try to tell them that and emphasize it to them and I hope they’ll really work hard to become that because they could be.”For now though, it’s difficult to do anything but marvel the swarming defense that led to all those steals and 9-of-41 (22 percent) shooting from the Cats’ opponent.”We’re just trying to hustle for 40 minutes and we could have been satisfied with creating 30 turnovers, which is a staggering amount,” Mitchell said. “What I was trying do was get them to play 40 minutes hustling and aggressive. That’s an awful lot of turnovers for a team to have and a defense to create and I was happy that we tried to play our best today.”Calling 30 turnovers “staggering”, Mitchell couldn’t come up with a word to describe 48. Junior guard A’dia Mathies, who tallied her third career double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, gave it a try though.”Insane,” Mathies said. “That’s a lot of turnovers. We did a good job of trapping and rotating and having pressure on defense all night and it showed.”After the way UK sputtered out of the gate against Morehead State, trailing 32-31 at halftime, the Cats were particularly mindful of bringing intensity from the tip-off, especially with the strange 11 a.m. start time.”Coach really stressed it in practice and before the game he showed us film of the first half against Morehead State and (we saw) what we weren’t doing,” Mathies said. “We took that and just worked with it and came out with a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm and it really showed today.”Twenty-seven forced first-half turnovers later, it was clear UK would have a chance at eclipsing the record mark, but it wasn’t their run at the record book that kept the Cats going as the margin ballooned.”That’s the only way we practice, so that’s the only way we know how to play really,” Mathies said. “He keeps new bodies coming in so we stay fresh so you can never be tired. He’ll bring you out. We’ve got a lot of energy and that’s what we base our program on.”Although UK will face more and more talented opponents as the season progresses, Mitchell sees Tuesday’s effort as a blueprint for the rest of the year.”I’d really like get off to a fast start and just never let the pressure up,” Mitchell said. “As we get into SEC play, obviously that becomes more difficult, but that is the goal. That’s why we played so hard to the final buzzer, because we’re trying to develop that mentality.”Riley sits out with stress reactionSenior point guard Crystal Riley sat out her second straight game and was in a walking boot on the UK sideline for the victory over Jacksonville State. Mitchell said the injury is a stress reaction and she is being kept out to prevent a more serious injury from happening.”We haven’t seen a fracture yet, so that’s good news,” Mitchell said, “but she has had some issues before so we’re trying to be ultra-cautious and have her in a boot.” At this point, her return is uncertain.”We’re trying to get that injury to calm down,” Mitchell said. “We have not determined a return for her so she’s just day-to-day and we’ll see when can get her back.”