By Kevin Erpenbeck

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A common theme of the SEC portion of the schedule is a “grind.” It’s often rated one of the toughest conferences in the NCAA and currently houses the top team in the nation in South Carolina.

While the Cats experience that grind every year, this time might be a little different and more difficult than years past as they prepare to play archrival Florida on Thursday without their leader in assists, junior point guard Janee Thompson.

Thompson suffered a dislocated ankle and a broken fibula in No. 10 UK’s game against South Carolina on Sunday, effectively ending her 2014-15 season. The Chicago native had surgery on Monday to begin the recovery process and hopes to participate with the team’s offseason practices in June.

Head coach Matthew Mitchell said that with Thompson’s injury, the margin for error for the rest of the team just got a whole lot smaller.

“It does need to heighten everyone’s sense of awareness of their responsibility to the team,” Mitchell said. “If (sophomore guard Makayla Epps) wants to have a lousy day today, she is really going to hurt the team. If Janee was there (on the court), she can say ‘Oh, Janee can do it and I’ll just have a lousy day.’ Can’t do that (now).”

Mitchell also said the best solution to filling in Thompson’s place on the court is by sliding Epps over to the point guard role. The 5-foot-10 McDonald’s All-American has played mostly as a shooting guard and a small forward, but has some experience at the point guard position, most of it coming from high school. Epps is second on the team in scoring with an average of nearly 13 points a game. She also ranks second in assists with 50, just two behind Thompson’s 52.

The Cats are also expected to get help on Thursday with the return of senior guard Bria Goss. Goss suffered a broken thumb just before UK’s game against Belmont on Dec. 14 and has missed every game since then. Mitchell said he had considered bringing in Goss against South Carolina, but refrained from doing so in the interest of a “long-term plan for our team.” The 5-foot-10 guard is known for her prolific defense, something that Epps has continually struggled to establish since seeing more playing time this year, according to Mitchell.

Florida struggled during its nonconference portion of the schedule, going 8-5 while losing to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference team Savannah State and a home game against Big Sky team Eastern Washington. The Gators are coming off back-to-back losses against Ole Miss and Missouri to put them at 9-8 for the year.

UK played Florida twice in the regular season last year and lost both times. However, the Cats got their revenge in the SEC Tournament by defeating the Gators 75-70 in the quarterfinals. No matter Florida’s record now, Mitchell said he always expects a challenging match from UK’s conference nemesis.

“They just always seem to be extremely prepared. (Florida head coach Amanda Butler) does a great job,” Mitchell said. “I’m not expecting anything other than a very difficult game and we’ve got to find a way to be tough enough to win.”