Level Up: Virginia a ‘Real Test’ for UK
Through two games, Kentucky has overwhelmed with talent, athleticism and high-pressure defense.
The Wildcats scored a pair of victories by 50 points or more to open the season, the first back-to-back wins by margins that large in school history.
Encouraging as that start might be, Matthew Mitchell won’t find out where his team truly is until Thursday night.
“It’ll be a real test for us to step up in competition,” Mitchell said on Tuesday. “I thought our team improved over the first two games, but we will really work hard to improve in practice over the next two days and see where we stand with a good Virginia team.”
Kentucky (2-0) will host Virginia at 8:30 p.m. on Thursday in Rupp Arena. The Cavaliers are 0-1 on the season after falling to SEC powerhouse Mississippi State last week, but they are coming off a season in which they advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Virginia returns four starters from that squad, including honorable mention All-ACC performer Dominique Toussaint.
Toussaint is a 5-foot-9 guard, but she is joined on the roster by five players standing 6-2 or taller, including 6-9 junior Felicia Aiyeotan.
“A tough opponent in Virginia, coming in to play us on Thursday night,” Mitchell said. “They have tremendous size, tremendous athleticism, they’re aggressive. I’m so impressed with their physical strength and ability to play physical basketball.”
By contrast, the two tallest players to see the floor for Kentucky so far this season are Rhyne Howard and Tatyana Wyatt – both 6-2 – and Howard is primarily a perimeter player. That, however, does not mean the Cats don’t have the ability to match up.
“Well, we are not particularly tall at one position, but we’ve got pretty good length and athleticism, so we will need to guard them in the full court and try to make sure it’s tenacious and an up-tempo game,” Mitchell said. “I think it’s very important when you’re playing a team that has advantages in size, I think you’ve got do everything you can to keep them out of rhythm, and you have to be disruptive.”
UK is still a work in progress on that front, but the Cats have certainly shown a talent for disruptiveness so far this season. Kentucky has forced 72 turnovers through two games, but Mitchell is more pleased with the simple fact that his team improved from the start of the Alabama State game to the end of the matchup with Southern. The Cats will be looking to continue that trend on Thursday.
“This will be a much greater challenge,” Mitchell said. “It’ll be a greater challenge than we have had in the first two games, and it’ll be exciting to see how much we can progress between now and then and go out and compete really hard and work real hard to earn a victory before Thursday night.”
And if the Cats need a little extra motivation, there’s the fact that they will make the short trek downtown to play one of two games in venerable Rupp Arena.
“We’re so fortunate to have the best of both worlds: to play in our regular home, Memorial Coliseum, such an iconic place and means so much to this building, means so much to the people of the Commonwealth, and then that occasional trip downtown to Rupp Arena, one of the great arenas for basketball, for entertainment, you name it,” Mitchell said. “Everybody in this country knows about Rupp Arena. So, there is excitement when you get to go down there and have the opportunity to play, and I know this team is very excited to go down and were appreciative of the opportunity.”
