No. 24 Cats still getting their feet wet

If a team emerges from its first five games of conference play unscathed, it may appear to be near the top of its game.

According to UK head coach Billy Gillispie, that’s not so.

The No. 24 Cats (16-4, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) have turned the ball over 45 times the last two games — wins over Auburn and Alabama. During their most recent game, Saturday at Alabama, the Cats shot a mere 38 percent from the field.

“We’re not executing offensively the way we need to become the kind of team that I think we can become,” Gillispie said during a coaches’ teleconference on Monday. “We’re going to have to get that fixed.”

Gillispie preaches a defense-first approach. He says that will translate into better offensive production — individually and for the team. Gillispie looks at junior Jodie Meeks as an example. He said Meeks has done a good job of playing defense first and not rushing a shot on the offensive end.

“He doesn’t force too many shots,” Gillispie said. “I tell all of our guys if you play as hard as you possibly can on defense and you rebound, there aren’t too many shots that you can take that are going to be bad unless it’s a time, score and momentum situation. He’s done a fantastic job regarding that.”

As the Cats get ready to travel to Oxford, Miss., to take on Mississippi Tuesday night, Rebels head coach Andy Kennedy is already trying to come up with a way to try and stop another big scoring night for Meeks.

Ole Miss has battled through an injury-plagued season: The Rebels have already lost starting point guard Chris Warren for the season with a torn knee ligament and junior guard Eniel Polynice to knee surgery on Nov. 18. Kennedy has been forced to try to use different defenses to adjust to his personnel, something that won’t change Tuesday.

“We’ll continue to mix-and-match with our personnel,” Kennedy said. “Jodie is a legitimate national player of the year candidate and regardless of what defense we run, we have to be conscious of where he is.”

It’s the type of play Meeks has become used to seeing this season. Defenses all year have tried to deny him the ball, pushing him around and beating him up during the course of games. However, Meeks embraces it and takes it as a challenge to help his team win.

After being asked how physical it was to play in Saturday’s win, Meeks responded:

“Just another game in the SEC.”

Harris cleared to play

Junior Ramon Harris has been cleared to practice and play Tuesday at Ole Miss, according to UK spokesperson DeWayne Peevy.

Harris fainted while coming out of the locker room during halftime of the Cats’ 61-51 win over Alabama Saturday. After vomiting during the break, he became short of breath and collapsed into the arms of sophomore A.J. Stewart.

He was sent to a local hospital in Tuscaloosa, Ala., where tests were run. He returned to Lexington late Saturday night with the rest of the team after being released from the DCH Medical Center at approximately 6:00 p.m.

Cats earn first ranking of season

The surging Cats, winners of 11 of their last 12 games including a tight loss to rival Louisville, placed No. 24 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25, released Monday afternoon.

It’s the Cats’ highest ranking since November 2007.

The Cats earned 217 points in the poll out of a possible 1,800. No. 1 Duke earned 1,789 points, garnering the first-place vote from 62 of the 72 voters.

In the other major poll, the USA Today coaches’ poll, UK earned 50 points but fell three spots short of placing in the top 25.

UofL is ranked No. 7 in both polls. No SEC team other than the Cats appeared in either poll.