A minute and 56 seconds into Kentucky’s game against Belmont, Matthew Mitchell turned to his bench and sent five new players into the game.For a brief moment, Belmont’s Cameron Newbauer thought he might have been coaching in Rupp Arena instead of Memorial Coliseum.”I thought you guys were starting to be like the men. Blue and White or something,” Newbauer said, referencing John Calipari’s platoon system. “I looked at the bench and I said, ‘Have he and Cal been hanging out?’ “Mitchell and Calipari do speak often, but that wasn’t the reason for UK’s line-change substitution so early in Sunday’s game. Mitchell was simply unwilling to accept what he was seeing from his team.”That was not my plan at the start of the game,” Mitchell said. “I just was very disappointed with how our first unit came out and played.”And so in came the second unit in a game tied at the time, 3-3. The effort the second wave of Wildcats gave wasn’t perfect, but it was enough to propel No. 8 UK (10-1) to a 71-55 win over Belmont (2-7). In fact, it was one player – Azia Bishop – who largely responsible for the improved energy.Bishop, coming off the bench for the second game in a row after making eight starts to begin the season, did it all for UK. She had season highs in points (15), rebounds (12), blocks (four) and steals (three).”Before the game, (assistant) Coach (Adeniyi) Amadou told me I just needed to come in and work ahead and attack the board and just give it my all,” Bishop said. “I think doing that, it produced what I had today.”Returning to the reserve role she filled in her first three seasons in Lexington may have had something to do with it too.”If you think about, she’s done it for three years, come off the bench,” Mitchell said. “We just need production from her and I loved her fight today. I thought she had some really great moments of fight. And really there for the first portion of the game, at the time she was the only one.””Starting, it really doesn’t affect me like that, but just coming off the bench is more comfortable for me just because I get to see the flow of the game and know what I have to come in and do,” Bishop said. “And I think that’s given me the extra push and the extra oomph to go out there and play harder.”Bishop’s numbers, in Mitchell’s mind, were great, but it’s her effort that matters most. That effort shows up in three areas.The first, says Mitchell, is on the offensive glass. On Sunday, Bishop tied for the team high with five offensive rebounds.The next is on defense, where Mitchell says Bishop must be focused and in a stance for her and her team to be at their best. She was against Belmont, and those seven combined blocks and steals prove it. Last, Mitchell wants Bishop running the floor. Her speed has the ability to change the game by creating transition opportunities and, just as importantly, affecting the opponent. Bishop sprinted constantly against the Bruins, helping the Cats turn a three-point lead with less than 15 minutes left into a 16-point win.”I thought Belmont did a great job, but you saw it started to wear them down,” Mitchell said.Whether Bishop continues to come off the bench or returns to the starting lineup, she’s going to need to duplicate that going forward. Over the next month, UK will face bruising frontcourts against the likes of No. 13 Duke and top-ranked South Carolina. The Cats won’t be outmuscling those teams, but they can outrun them with Bishop pacing them.”We can’t just go toe to toe,” Mitchell said. “We’ve gotta get the thing going up and down and that one for Azia, just running the floor and making people run back and making people expend energy to get back and guard us, it’s very important.”