UK’s plan against Gamecocks: Make plays, not run plays

South Carolina comes into Tuesday night’s game at Kentucky with a reputation for tough, physical play. The Gamecocks want to take away passes, push opponents’ offenses further from the basket and, generally, take away what has been practiced and perfected.

“You’re not going to have to run a lot of plays,” UK assistant coach Joel Justus said Monday. “It’s going to be, ‘are you prepared to go and make plays?’”

Justus suggested that Kentucky players prefer to play in the open court and improvise basketball plays. It’s not usual for opponents to try to slow the pace and try to force UK to execute in the half-court, he added.

“Sometimes our guys’ eyes light up when we get to play up and down in a high-paced, up-tempo game,” Justus said. “What you can’t do is not guard on the defensive end because it’s getting up and down.”

Before his team defeated South Carolina 89-67 on Jan. 19, LSU Coach Will Wade said, “I told our guys … we’re not as bulky as them. We have to use our quickness. If we just tried to go bully-ball for bully-ball, they would roll right over us.”

Tennessee Coach Rick Barnes said of the Gamecocks, “They’re determined to make you work.” He echoed that theme on a Southeastern Conference teleconference Monday when he said, “They’re going to contest every pass. They run through passing lanes. … If you’re not ready for that, it’s going to be a long night for you.”

Justus spoke confidently of Kentucky being ready.

“It’s something I think we’re prepared for,” he said. “We’ve played teams that played physical. We played teams that try to take you out of offense. So I think by tomorrow evening, we’ll be prepared.”

A big Hagans?

Justus likened South Carolina center Chris Silva to UK point guard Ashton Hagans.

“He presents a major challenge,” Justus said of Silva. “He’s very physical. He gets fouled a ton. He has a great sense of creating fouls (and) drawing fouls.

“He’s a little bit like Ashton Hagans. He just kind of pops up. Blocks a shot. Gets a steal. Knock him over, and it’s a charge. He’s just a pest, really on defense. Very similar to how people are describing Ashton. … I would say a pest in the low post.”

Silva was the SEC’s co-Defensive Player of the Year last season.

South Carolina Coach Frank Martin noted that in the only two games in the last month or so that Silva has not played well, foul trouble was a factor.

“He can finish at the rim amongst the best in the conference. …,” PJ Washington said. “He blocks everything and he rebounds everything. He’s a great shot blocker. And you’ve got to go up into his chest and get him in foul trouble.”

Not must-see TV

The chair of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, Stanford Athletics Director Bernard Muir, will announce the first 16 seeds at 12:30 p.m. EST on CBS Saturday. The announcement will be part of the pre-game show leading into CBS’s telecast of the UK-Mississippi State game.

Of course, with another month to go in the season, much can change before Selection Sunday on March 17.

Justus made it seem UK will not be watching. Of seeding and bracketing, he said, “I don’t know that we’ve ever talked about it in my five years here. Cal talks about being our the best version today. Our biggest opponent is us.”

UK defense

UK’s last four opponents (and six of the last seven) have shot 37 percent or worse from the field.

“I think Kentucky defends as well as anybody in college basketball right now,” Florida Coach Mike White said. The Gators made 34.9 percent of their shots Saturday.

“They’ve got speed,” he said. “They’ve got depth. They’ve got size. And their size guys really move. Everything is contested. It’s hard to drive them. It’s hard to get open looks. It’s obviously hard to post them. I just don’t see a defensive weakness.”

Looking ahead

Auburn big man Austin Wiley was expected to return to practice Monday, and might play against Florida on Tuesday, Coach Bruce Pearl said. Wiley has been sidelined off and on this season, having played in 15 of Auburn’s 21 games. He has started only five times. One of the games he missed was UK’s 82-80 victory at Auburn on Jan. 19.

Auburn plays at UK on Feb. 23.

“Everybody else’s got two or three of them,” Pearl said of imposing big men. “And we’ve got one of them. It’ll be nice to at least have one of them.”

Etc.

Tom Hart and Andy Kennedy will call the game for the SEC Network.