FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 www.alligator.org/sports
GYMNASTICS
Florida hosts LSU in titanic, top-10 showdown By Noah Ram Sports Writer
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Alyssa Baumann posted a season-high 9.925 in the floor exercise against Missouri.
This is a meet over a year in the making. It has been in the making since Jan. 18, 2019. On that day last year, the Florida gymnastics team went into Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and got that monkey, or “Tiger,” off its back and shocked LSU. It was its first win over the Tigers since 2014 and it ended their 35-meet home win streak. Now, tonight, we get the rematch. The Gators will host the Tigers on Friday night in their biggest SEC meet of the season. It will be held at the O’Connell Center and begins at 7:15 p.m. This meet looks to be another chapter in this rivalry involving two of the most successful programs in the country. Florida and LSU have made three of the last four Super Sixes. The meet on Friday will be the 24th-consecutive the teams will meet with both ranked in the top 10. These two teams have played each other incredibly close. Of their 22 meetings since 2013, 17 have been decided by less than half a point.
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“It’s been a very close rivalry over the last couple years,” coach Jenny Rowland said. No. 2 Florida will be looking to bounce back from a less-than-stellar performance last week in a win over No. 19 Missouri in Columbia. Despite the 196.85-195.60 win, UF (2-0) really didn’t get it going until the third rotation. “It was a situation last week we are not used to,” Rowland said. “They had an ice storm come through and it was a small crowd so the energy level was not up, and we just started a little too tight.” Although the score may have been lower than expected, there were still some positives to take away from the meet. Sophomore Nya Reed equaled her career-high of 9.875 to win the vault title for the secondstraight week, and sophomore Trinity Thomas won her second beam (9.925) and floor (9.95) title in a row. UF’s depth continues to be arguably the most impressive tool it has. Coach Rowland is able to roll out different lineups in each event every week and see the same top-flight results.
“There is definitely a lot more depth this year than we’ve had in the past,” junior Alyssa Baumann said. “I think it really pushes the team more, because we are competing for lineup spots each meet.” For example, Baumann performed on the vault two weeks ago against Arkansas, but was replaced by Skaggs last week, who then proceeded to notch the second-highest score on the team (9.800). No. 8 LSU comes to Gainesville with a 3-0 record. It has already faced SEC foes, No. 8 Georgia and No. 20 Auburn. Freshman Kiya Johnson won the SEC Freshman of the week for her performance against Auburn, scoring a 39.60 in the all-around category. The Tigers are coming off a second-place finish at last year’s NCAA Championship, their best finish in school history. “This team really thrives on being able to compete and show off in front of Gator nation," Rowland said. "And having LSU on top of that really just amplifies everything.” @Noah_ram1 nram@alligator.org
Cup of Joe
Keys for UF vs. No. 1 Baylor A case of missing identity plagues the Gators By Evan Lepak and Brendan Farrell Sports Writers
The Gators men’s basketball team welcomes No. 1 Baylor to the O’Dome on Saturday in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, making this the third season in a row that Florida has faced the top team in the country. UF has also never won a regular-season matchup against a No. 1 team, losing its last 13 attempts. Two of our basketball writers, Evan Lepak and Brendan Farrell, each have one aspect to keep an eye on in UF's game against the Bears. UF will need to disrupt Baylor’s offensive efficiency Baylor and Florida are very similar teams on paper, especially on the offensive side of the ball. According to KenPom, both squads share comparable numbers in offensive efficiency and tempo. The Bears are 25th and 290th, respectively in those categories, and because of this, they rarely turn the ball over. The team is averaging 11.9 per game, which is secondbest in the Big 12. In order for the Gators to win Saturday’s game, their defense will need to be active and disruptive. Initially, the team will have plenty of energy thanks to the expected
sell-out crowd at the O’Connell Center, so it’ll be important for Florida to get off to a positive start by controlling the pace of play early. Another key part of the game on Saturday will be on the glass. Baylor has a long and athletic frontcourt highlighted by 6-foot-9 forward Freddie Gillespie who averages 9.4 boards per game, good for third in the Big 12. UF big men Kerry Blackshear Jr. and Omar Payne have the height to compete with him, but will that translate under the basket? On Tuesday, LSU bullied the Gators down low, out-rebounding UF 38-28 and corralling an eyeopening 15 offensive rebounds. Payne and Blackshear Jr. combined for just nine rebounds, while LSU’s top rebounders (Darius Days and Marlon Taylor) had 19 total. The Bears are ranked seventh, according to KenPom, in offensive rebounding percentage, and they average 39 total rebounds per game, which is second in the Big 12 behind only West Virginia. It’s clear that the painted area of the court on Saturday will play a key role in the difference between a Florida win and a Florida loss. @evanmplepak elepak@alligator.org
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Former Gators women's basketball guard Sarah Lowe will be honored as UF's SEC Legend at the conference tournament in March.
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a game and 99th with 11.17 offensive aving an identity as a team in boards per contest. the game of basketball is everyAnd despite these unimpressive stathing. tistics, the Gators still find themselves Specializing in a certain area 12-6 — a position that I don’t think of the game because of personthey’d be in if it weren’t for their imnel or coaching creates a solid foundapressive personnel. tion for a championship-caliber team. This team was ranked No. 6 on the Except the problem that I have seen Joseph Salvador Twitter: jsalvadorsports AP’s preseason poll for a reason: its roswith this Florida men’s basketball squad jsalvador@alligator.org ter. is they don’t have one. A roster that features a 6-foot-5 point UF has been all over the stat sheet guard in Andrew Nembhard looking to build off a this season and not exactly in a good way. In both wins and losses, the Gators have had a rookie campaign that featured a game-winner in the myriad of different performances that I find unset- SEC Tournament. Then at the wings there is guard Noah Locke, tling. Defense has been a specialty for Mike White- who is shooting a team-best 41 percent from becoached teams in the past, and this season, Florida yond the arc along with an uber-athletic forward in has allowed 66 points a game, good enough for the Keyontae Johnson. Not to mention the SEC Preseason Player of the 93rd-ranked defense in the nation. Yet on Saturday, the Gators locked down then- Year and leading scorer Kerry Blackshear Jr. Florida’s incoming freshmen certainly played a No. 4 Auburn, allowing 47 points. But they surrenrole in its generous preseason placement, as well. dered 91 to Missouri just a week prior. Guards Tre Mann and Scottie Lewis both joined So, they’re not a team that will consistently make the Gators as five-star recruits in 2019 to round out you work for baskets. the team’s depth. Is this an offensive team that plays fast-paced? Much has been made of Lewis. A fun (and deadNope. Its adjusted tempo is 290th in the country, accord- ly) drinking game would be to watch this team play ing to KenPom, and the Gators average 74 points per and take a shot every time a broadcaster mentions Lewis’ athleticism, defensive prowess or his admitgame, good enough for 110th in the nation. Florida managed to put up 82 points against LSU tedly impressive kick-ups. Despite all this talent, the team frankly isn’t elite on Tuesday, just the fifth time this season it has in any particular area. I am of the mindset that a reached that total. How about the boards? Are the Gators a rough team needs some part of its game to take pride in. There also doesn’t seem to be a clear-cut leader and tumble team that’ll crash the glass and outwork who demands the ball in crunch time. you? I see you’re getting the trend here. Florida is 91st in the country at 37.8 rebounds SEE COLUMN, PAGE 12
Florida baseball pegged for another top-10 ranking The Gators are No. 10 in the USA Today Preseason Coaches Poll. Eight of UF's opponents also appeared in the Top 25, five of which are among the top nine teams.
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