Matthew Mitchell, with a week to prepare, has watched his share of tape on Duke.He’s come to a clear conclusion.”We have quite a mountain to climb literally and figuratively,” Mitchell said, not quite able to suppress a smile at the turn of phrase.The Blue Devils you see, are likely the biggest team UK will face all season. The No. 8 Wildcats (10-1) have two players on their roster standing 6-foot-3. No. 13 Duke (6-3) has two such players as well, but also four coming in at 6-4 and another standing 6-5 with Kentucky coming to Cameron Indoor Stadium at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday for a showdown televised on ESPN2.”The biggest team in Duke history is what they’re saying,” Mitchell said. “They just have massive size, so it will be a very interesting game. We are not the biggest Kentucky team history, but we do have some speed and quickness so we will have to try and see which style will win out.”More often than not, UK’s style has been the one to get the better of its opponents this season.The Cats already boast a pair of top-10 wins over Baylor and Louisville, both coming after double-digit comebacks. In the two games, UK overcame any deficits in size with that speed and quickness, but Duke is at another level in the post.Duke, playing one of the nation’s toughest schedules, is outrebounding opponents by 22.1 per game. Elizabeth Williams is one of five players averaging 4.8 or more rebounds per game, posting 11 to go with her 14.4 points per game.UK’s post players will be in for a challenge, particularly first-year contributors Kyvin Goodin-Rogers, Alyssa Rice and Alex Jennings. The trio, along with Azia Bishop, has improved of late thanks to a lot of work.”We had a good session after practice (Wednesday) with just Alyssa, Azia, (assistant) Coach (Adeniyi) Amadou and myself were just down there for about a half-hour after practice and there was some really good stuff happening,” Mitchell said. “You just want to see it show up on the court at some point in time, and I think it will.”But just as importantly, Mitchell needs his perimeter players to set the tone with ball pressure. If they don’t, all that work on the part of the post players likely won’t matter much.”We’re really going to have to play with tremendous intensity on the perimeter because they’re just so big,” Mitchell said. “I mean, really, if you give them any chance at all, they’ll just lob it up to (Azura) Stevens or Williams and it’s almost like a jump ball. So who can jump the highest? They’re probably going to jump higher than us. The guards are critical for us defensively in this game for us and without Bria, it’s a big challenge.”Mitchell, of course, is referring to the absence of Bria Goss. The senior guard and UK’s top defensive player will miss four to six weeks with a broken thumb suffered on Sunday before a win over Belmont. The injury will force the Cats to adjust on a couple fronts.First, UK’s smaller lineup is less of an option with Goss out.”In some of the tight games that we’ve been in, I’ve sort of bailed them out by putting Makayla (Epps) at the four and I think for us long term in a game like this, we’re probably going to have to have some size on the floor as you look at some of the bigger teams in the SEC, it’s going to be necessary for our young post players to come along and contribute this season,” Mitchell said. “It’s a big test for them, on the road, at Duke, against a really big front line and so I think they’re getting better.”And of course, someone will need to fill Goss’ defensive void. Mitchell mentioned Jennifer O’Neill, Janee Thompson and Makayla Epps as candidates.”Well, it’s another great opportunity,” Mitchell said. “Who is really going to step up and be a defensive stopper now? Who is going to step up?”If someone does, the Cats could benefit in the long term.”I think that you have to find the silver lining in these kinds of things,” Mitchell said. “You must. And really, if we respond correctly, maybe we can be stronger in a month when Bria comes back and I told Bria it could be something greater for you. Maybe this gets us deeper into the tournament and makes us stronger.”