Jerry Tipton on UK basketball

Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie called for better defense when the Cats play No. 3 Tennessee on Tuesday night.

UK’s defense figures to be much better against the Vols than at Florida on Saturday night. That’s the highest priority, even higher than combating Tennessee’s superior depth by slowing the tempo.

“If we don’t gaurd better than at Florida, it doesn’t matter what tempo we play,” Gillispie said at a Monday news conference. “I knew it was bad (at Florida). But once you see it on tape, it makes you want to throw up.”

In particular, Gillispie found UK’s defense on the ball handler and in helping beaten teammates sickening.

Rounding off, Tennessee has seven players averaging 7.0 points or better this season. The Vols have 12 players averaging double-digit minutes with no one logging more than Chris Lofton’s 28.3 minutes.

By contrast, UK has three players averaging more than 32 minutes (Patrick Patterson, Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley). Bradley has played every one of UK’s 135 minutes in Southeastern Conference play, and all 175 minutes of play for the Cats this month.

Gillispie dismissed fatigue as a factor. “I don’t buy it,” he said before suggesting that fighting fatigue is a battle of mind over matter. You get tired “if you allow your mind to allow you to get fatigued,” he said.

Meanwhile, Crawford saluted Tennessee, saying the Vols were “much better” than Florida. The rankings would support such a contention.

And Crawford said UK would want to slow the Vols, who favor a fast-breaking, pressing attack.

“I think we want to slow it down,”  Crawford said. “I don’t think we’re going to let them go to their strength.”

UK’s depth got help at Florida when Jodie Meeks and Derrick Jasper played. The pair had been nursing injuries. Meeks participated in much of practice Monday, Gillispie said. Jasper practiced on a more limited basis.