UK Hoops looks for eighth straight win over Mississippi State
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The 10th-ranked University of Kentucky women’s basketball team is set to embark on a tough stretch of games over the next few weeks, a stretch that features four ranked opponents, including three in a row and two in the top 10. First up is No. 13/15 Mississippi State. The Southeastern Conference’s top two defensive teams will face off Thursday, Feb. 12 in Memorial Coliseum at 7 p.m. ET. The game will be shown live on the SEC Network with Cara Capuano and Carolyn Peck calling the action. It also will be broadcast live on the UK Radio Network with Neil Price.
Senior Jelléah Sidney (Queens Village, N.Y.) is the featured player of the game and will sign autographs following Thursday’s matchup.
Single-game reserved tickets are available at a cost of $9 for all ages. General admission tickets for adults are $8 while single-game general admission tickets for seniors and children (ages 6-18, 65 and over) are only $5.
Children ages five and under are admitted free in the general admission seating area and UK students, faculty and staff are admitted free with valid identification.
Fans interested in UK Hoops tickets can visit the Joe Craft Center ticket office, go to UKathletics.com, or call the UK ticket office at 1-800-928-CATS. Tickets are also available at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000.
“Tough game ahead tomorrow night and I think tough and toughness is going to be the operative word in the game,” UK Hoops head coach Matthew Mitchell said. “Mississippi State is a very, very tough team. They have played great this season and are very athletic, but just so tenacious and so tough and very deep and great defensive team. This will be a major, major test for our team. They’re strong on the perimeter and inside, a balanced basketball team and this will be a difficult game for us. We’re just going to work hard to prepare for victory.”
Kentucky, which currently ranks fifth in the SEC standings at 18-5 overall and 7-3 in league play, is coming off an 82-68 win at Vanderbilt on Sunday in Nashville. Sophomore guard Linnae Harper (Chicago) led the way with a game- and career-high tying 22 points, scoring 16 in the decisive second half. UK’s leading rebounder also grabbed five rebounds and dished out three assists in the game. Fellow sophomore Makayla Epps (Lebanon, Ky.) added 18 points, 13 in the first half, and seniors Bria Goss (Indianapolis) and Jennifer O’Neill (Bronx, N.Y.) followed with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
The guard trio of O’Neill, Epps and Harper are three of the SEC’s top scorers in league play. UK is the only school with three in the top 10. Epps is currently tied for first in scoring with Texas A&M’s Courtney Williams and South Carolina’s Tiffany Mitchell with 14.8 ppg. O’Neill is fifth with 14.5 ppg and Harper ranks 10th with 13.0 ppg. They make up 51.8 percent of UK’s overall scoring.
Harper should also be considered one of the most versatile players in the SEC as she is the only player to rank in the league’s top 10 (SEC games only) in scoring (10th), rebounding (7th) and steals (2nd). Standing at just 5-foot-8, Harper is the only player under 5-foot-10 in the top 10 of SEC rebounding statistics and is one of only six players in the NCAA to stand at 5-8 or under and average at least 7.0 rebounds per game. She also adds 11.7 points per game, third on the team.
Epps, who’s on the Nancy Lieberman Award watch list for the nation’s top point guard, has been a key cog in UK’s success since the loss of starting point guard Janee Thompson (Chicago). Since becoming the starting point guard vs. Florida on Jan. 15, Epps is averaging a team-high 17.5 points to go along with 4.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.
No. 13/15 Mississippi State enters Thursday’s game at 23-3 overall, 8-3 in SEC play after defeating No. 14/13 Texas A&M in overtime on Sunday at home, 63-61. The 23 wins are the second-most in single-season school history and one shy of the record of 24 set by the 1999-00 and 2002-03 squads.
Freshman forward Victoria Vivians is the only Bulldog averaging in double-digit scoring this season. She is the SEC’s top freshmen scorer with 14.2 ppg, a total that rates sixth overall. Her 11.5 average in league play is second among SEC rookies. Seven of her teammates average at least 5.3 ppg. The next closest to Vivians is fellow freshman guard, Morgan William, with 9.4 ppg.
Head coach Vic Schaefer is in his third season as the head coach at Mississippi State after spending 15 combined years as the associate head coach at Texas A&M (2003-12) and Arkansas (1997-2003).
“Mississippi State just is as good a team we’ll face down the stretch,” Mitchell said. “They have great size inside, best shot blocker in the league, one of the best freshman in the league and just a cast of players that just play with incredible tenacity. We’ll have to play a real, real tough game tomorrow night and we’ll have to earn the victory if we’re going to get it.”
Mississippi State ranks third nationally and leads the SEC in turnover margin at +7.5, forcing the opponent into 23.1 turnovers per game, while only committing 15.5 per game. UK, which ranks 12th nationally and second in the SEC turnover margin, forces 23.6 miscues per game, while committing 17.3 per game. The Cats have forced at least 20 turnovers in 20 of 23 games this season and are 17-3 overall, 7-1 in SEC play when doing so. Those forced turnovers are turning into points for the Wildcats as well. UK averages 24.4 points per game off forced turnovers, compared to the opponents’ 14.2 ppg.
MSU is 3-1 vs. ranked opponents this season with wins over No. 17/16 West Virginia (74-61), No. 19/19 Georgia (64-56) and No. 14/13 Texas A&M. The lone loss came at No. 6/6 Tennessee (79-67).
Thursday is the 41st meeting between Kentucky and Mississippi State. UK is 23-17 overall vs. the Bulldogs, 10-8 when the game is played in Lexington. UK has won seven straight over Mississippi State, including three in a row at home.
The last time the teams met in Lexington in 2013, the Cats won 100-47, the largest margin of victory over an SEC opponent in school history (+53).
For more information on parking around Memorial Coliseum and other game-day questions visit www.ukathletics.com/wbbgameday.
