Kentucky Concludes SEC Road Stretch Thursday at Ole Miss
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky women’s basketball team will conclude its Southeastern Conference road schedule Thursday as it travels to Oxford, Mississippi, to face Ole Miss at 8:30 p.m. ET inside The Pavilion at Ole Miss.
The game will be broadcast live on the SEC Network with Eric Frede and Steffi Sorensen on the call. The action can also be seen through WatchESPN on computers, smartphones or tablets. Darren Headrick, in his first year with the program, will be calling the game on the UK Sports Radio Network. Fans in Lexington can hear Headrick’s call on 630AM WLAP. Live stats and free audio will be available online at ukathletics.com.
Kentucky (13-15, 5-9 SEC) has only two games remaining in the regular season. After traveling to face Ole Miss, the Wildcats will return to Lexington to host No. 2 Mississippi State for Senior Day at Noon ET inside Memorial Coliseum. UK currently ranks ninth in the league standings with one more win clinching at least the ninth seed in the event.
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| Kentucky at Ole Miss | ||
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Thursday, Feb. 22 – 8:30 p.m. ET |
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TV: SEC Network |
The Wildcats are coming off a 81-63 setback at No. 8 South Carolina last Sunday. It was junior guard Maci Morris that shined in the game, scoring a game-high 35 points while making five 3s. The point total was a career best for Morris, who became just the third player in school history to score 35 points or more in an SEC game, joining Makayla Epps and Valerie Still on that list. On the season, Morris is averaging a team-best 16.9 points per game while averaging 3.6 rebounds per game. Morris is hitting 47.1 percent from long range this season, which ranks top 10 nationally and second in the league.
Fellow junior Taylor Murray is averaging 11.4 points per game while sitting second on the team with 4.3 rebounds per game and leading the Wildcats with 111 assists. Murray recently had a stretch of scoring in double figures in eight straight games. Freshman Tatyana Wyatt is averaging 7.2 points per game with 3.8 rebounds per game while senior post Alyssa Rice is averaging 7.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
Ole Miss enters Thursday’s game with a 11-16 overall record, including a 1-13 mark in SEC play. The Rebels are 9-6 at home this season. Their only conference win this season was a 78-75 overtime victory over Florida on Jan. 7 and have lost 11 consecutive games since. The Rebels started the season winning nine of their first 10 games and entered league play with a 10-3 record.
The Rebels are coming off a 66-52 loss to No. 19 Georgia on Monday. Ole Miss trailed by three at the end of the first quarter but the Bulldogs outscored the Rebels 20-6 in the second quarter to look to take control of the game before Ole Miss answered by outscoring UGA 26-13 in the third quarter to cut the deficit to four. UGA sealed the win with a 18-8 advantage in the fourth quarter. Madinah Muhammad scored 18 points in the game while Alissa Alston had 10 points.
Muhammad leads the team in scoring this season by averaging 16.8 points per game hitting a team-best 59 3-pointers with 66 assists and 41 steals. Alissa Alston is averaging 15.0 points per game and 3.4 rebounds per game with a team-best 110 assists. Promise Taylor is averaging 8.8 points per game and 6.0 rebounds per game. The Rebels are averaging 67.0 points per game this season and hitting 40.1 percent from the field and 31.2 percent from 3.
Ole Miss leads the all-time series in games played against Kentucky, 22-17, including a 13-6 record in games played in Oxford. The Rebels have won two straight home games against the Wildcats. Kentucky has won seven of the last nine meetings against Ole Miss. The two teams have met at least once per season since 1995. UK is 4-3 against the Rebels in Oxford since 2006 and Matthew Mitchell is 8-3 against Ole Miss in his time as head coach at Kentucky.
Kentucky won the last meeting between the two teams 89-57 in Lexington on Jan. 26, 2017, outscoring the Rebels 46-18 in the first half to take control of the game. The Wildcats shot 58.6 percent from the field, including 8-of-14 from long range. UK forced Ole Miss into 19 turnovers and scored 25 points off those miscues. UK also had a 38-23 edge in rebounding and scored 14 second-chance points. Three Wildcats scoring in double figures in the game with Evelyn Akhator posting 28 points with 13 rebounds, while Epps had 20 points and six assists and Morris had 17 points hitting five 3-pointers.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, or Kentucky Women’s Basketball on Facebook.
Kentucky WBB Pre-Ole Miss News Conference
Memorial Coliseum – Lexington, Ky.
Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2018
Head Coach Matthew Mitchell
Opening Statement …
“Tough, tough game. Road game. And Ole Miss is very aggressive. They can cause a lot of pressure and create a lot of havoc on the defensive end, and that’s been something that we’ve really had a challenge with. So, the last couple times we’ve been down there they have really taken it to us. So, it’s a hard place to play. They’ve got a very aggressive team, so big challenge for us to try to get prepared and to prepare well enough for victory. That’s what we have to work hard at today.”
On whether there is something unique about playing at Ole Miss that has caused issues in the past …
“Yeah, I don’t know. You know, the last couple of times down there we had a hard time defending in the ball screen and they do a great job of ball screen offense and they’ve been able to make some shots in those games that really challenged us. So, defensively the way that they play and construct their offense has been challenging for us. So, another year where they’re doing that really, really well. They have some guards that can really see and read well out of the ball screen. So, it’s a challenge for us. We worked hard on it yesterday and need to try to really see if we can sharpen that up today because they are really tough at that.”
On if he thinks they took a step back in the loss at South Carolina on Sunday …
“I don’t know if it’s a step back. The big thing that you have to understand is that when A’ja Wilson is motivated and playing the way that she played and was firing on all cylinders, that’s just a hard match up for us. So, you try to figure out what could you have controlled and done better. Because some of those we just didn’t have a lot of control over and you have to give credit to South Carolina. I felt like when we kind of went back and forth in the first quarter, I felt like they upped the ante from a physical stand point and I just think our team has had a hard time. We’re looking to things that are out of our control to kind of save us instead of getting lower, playing tougher, fighting fire with fire. Sometimes we’ve kind of shied away from tough, physical play and it’s been a point of emphasis to try to increase freedom of movement on the offensive end, but sometimes these games get really physical and tough and you have to adjust. So, if you feel like you’re getting fouled and it’s not being called, you’re not getting fouled. The officials have the final word on that. So, you have to as a player, you’ve got to lower your hips, you’ve got to grit your teeth, you’ve got to engage your core, you’ve got to stay on balance and you’ve got to get tough. You know, we got in there driving the ball and got tripped and the ball kind of got out of there and they went and laid it up and the building exploded. And our team did not respond to that well and it just sort of started an avalanche there. It wasn’t an avalanche, I mean it was some separation there in second quarter that I didn’t think we handled well emotionally. So, there’s going to be plays in the game that you may get knocked around. You don’t get a call, you have to respond much tougher than we did that day. So, I would like to have seen that improved. There were a few execution things that didn’t go our way, but we just came back yesterday and the kids worked hard and are practicing hard. I think it’s more of a day that you give South Carolina credit and you look at it like any other game. There are always thigns you can go back as a team and correct, and that’s how we’re viewing it. Anytime you have a competency issue where the player doesn’t know or she’s just not experienced enough, you try to have some patience. Anything where it’s your effort or lack of that, you’ve really got to push hard then as a coach. So, we try to go back and correct any of those times where we didn’t give our best and that’s what we really focused on yesterday.”
On Taylor Murray’s performance as of late …
“Mental strength, emotional steadiness and just not projecting into the future and putting too much pressure that we’re trying to position for postseason or all of these external things that you can get your mind on, so if you get a shot blocked, I think she got a shot blocked and then had another subpar play early in the game and I just felt that really affected her and her energy level. When she’s been successful is when she’s stayed at the task at hand and not let that get away from her, and it’s been a journey for Taylor this year. She’s been in a different role, and man, has she progressed and improved in so many areas. Like all, she’s not a finished product, and there’s plenty for her to improve on, and that’s one thing just being more steady and letting go of disappointment. It’s a characteristic and trait of our team that on one of side of the coin is really positive that people care so much, but the other side of that coin if you let that be a negative and drag you down because you’re so disappointed in what’s going on that you don’t respond well then it becomes your strength of caring becomes of negative, and I think that’s where the best way to describe what happens to Taylor is sometimes she gets too disappointed in one mistake and lets that dictate her performance for the rest of the game. So, when you see her aggressive and focused in on just trying to do it as many times over the 40 minutes, that’s when she has success. When she’s not aggressive and is thinking about some type of play in the past that didn’t go the way she wanted to go, that’s when you see the game she had on Sunday. She’s aware of it. We’ve talked to her about it. She’s a great kid and working hard to improve, and I’ll think you’ll see her have a better game Thursday night.”
On Alyssa Rice’s time at UK …
“She’s been one of the more amazing people to come through just because of the depth she has as a person. She has been of the most balanced people, and one of the people that have come in and taken advantage of what the program really offers. You can look in every way imaginable. She’s grown. Her mom and dad are two of the finest people that I know and have raised a wonderful family. Alyssa just came to us as a real high character young woman. She has always cared about other people and has always shown great work ethic. In the classroom, she’s been amazing. She’s been a leader for us in the community and given back to others. Her game has really improved from the day she walked in the door to the day she’ll walk out. She has applied herself in every area. One of the people over the years who would never be afraid to come to me and say, ‘hey, this is what’s going on and whether it’s good or bad, I need your help on this.’ I always felt like I had a great line of communication. Her teammates would send her when they needed something. She was always that person. We’ve always been able to communicate with each other. The support and loyalty that she showed in that difficult end to the 2016 season. Those folks and those kids, and she’s one of them that will stick in my mind and my heart forever because that was a really difficult time, and Alyssa and the loyalty and support and energy that she gave. Her parents were just rock solid and terrific people. She’s someone we’re real proud of. She’ll be a product of the program that we will share with others and this is what you can accomplish and this is what you can do. I can’t think of many finer people that I’ve encountered on my coaching journey than Alyssa Rice.”
On what he thinks Alyssa means in saying this has been the most challenging year for her because she’s had to lead in different ways…
“Vocal leadership. Just confrontation, being vocal. We had a young group that was not negative like, ‘The coach is full of it and I can’t stand the coach,’ but like, ‘Why are we going through this? This is too hard. I’m not going to make it.’ Those types of things and she would typically let these things go, didn’t speak up or straighten the girls out in a firm way. This is difficult for some people because of the way they are wired. For some, this can be a challenge. She has been so coachable and yesterday during practice she got them together and she told them exactly what they needed to hear. I know that was her getting outside of her comfort zone and working hard to do what we’ve been asking her to do. It was a really special moment for me as a coach because you have a player here who you know is doing something that she’s not totally comfortable doing, but she’s doing it for her team, her coaches and the program and that is just the kind of person she is. That was the challenge, just what do I say and when do I say it? I’ve just always been an encourager, where Evelyn (Akhator) and (Makayla) Epps were heavy in the locker room. Evelyn would just say, ‘No, this is how were gonna do things,’ and that was a unique gift that Evelyn possessed—she just didn’t need to work that hard at doing that and it was valuable. This particular team and our leadership gifts were led more by example and that’s tough with a really young team. We had to work through that, but to her credit, she did not shy away. She took responsibility. Yesterday was her total investment. We’re getting down here to the end of the season and it has not gone as well as we hoped it would go, and there she is right in the middle of the huddle putting herself out there, sticking her neck out there, telling them what they needed to hear not what they wanted to hear and they respect her for that and as do I. I think it has been a great year of growth for her. I think it will benefit her as she moves along in life.”
