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SWIMMING UF hosts Auburn for seniors’ final lap
By Ainslie Lee Sports Writer
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On Saturday afternoon, 24 of Florida’s swimmers and divers will jump into the O’Dome Natatorium water in their final dual meet as Gators when the Auburn Tigers come to town.
The No. 9-ranked men’s team (6-1, 1-1 SEC) will recognize 11 seniors while the eighth-ranked women’s team (10-0, 2-0 SEC) will celebrate 13 seniors of its own.
For the men, their opponent comes into Gainesville unranked with a record of 5-1 (2-0 in SEC). The Tigers are led by Davis Edwards and Owen Upchurch who are both finding success as of late.
During home win against GardnerWebb on Jan. 17, Edwards, a freshman, won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:34.04. Meanwhile, Upchurch found victories in both the 100 and 200 freestyle.
In the orange and blue, the men’s team has stepped away from competition with its last meet having been Dec. 7 at the Toyota U.S. Open where it saw three of its swimmers bring hardware back to Gainesville.
Kieran Smith nabbed a silver medal during the open with his swim in the 400 freestyle, while Clark Beach (200 back) and Robert Finke (1,650 free) each managed to grab bronze. Finke’s 1,650 free (14:47.51) leads the SEC by four full seconds.
“It’s going to be a great feeling getting back into the water and competing in a dual meet again,” men’s coach Anthony Nesty said. “It’s been a while...We look forward to some tough competition from Auburn.”
For the women, Auburn (4-1, 1-1 in SEC) visits the O’Connell Center as the No. 14 team in the country.
The Tigers’ Julie Meynen contributes to Auburn’s sprint efforts with a time of 47.73 seconds in the 100 freestyle. Meynen’s time currently sits as the third-best in the SEC.
However, the Gators’ and the Tigers’ two distance swimmers will likely bring the most attention come Saturday.
While Florida’s distance swims are led by Leah Braswell, who leads the SEC in the 1,000 free (9:34.47) and the 1,650 free (15:47.85), Auburn’s Emily Hetzer touches the wall soon thereafter.
Hetzer’s leading times this season are 9:43.67 in the 1,000 free and 16:09.24 in the 1,650.
Additionally, in the diving pool, Auburn’s Alison Maillard has received conference-wide attention all year long and has picked up three SEC Diver of the Week recognitions this season. Maillard also holds the top score in the SEC for the 1-meter and 3-meter with scores of 326.55 and 347.55, respectively.
However, Florida’s Ashley McCool’s best score on the 3-meter is just 2.77 points under Maillard, making the battle on the boards an interesting one for the women. Saturday’s dual-meet has drawn the attention of the SEC Network, which will broadcast the meet live.
Action will get underway at 11 a.m. on Saturday, and the Gators will honor the 2010 women’s national championship team during the second break of the meet.
@AinsliesTwoBits alee@alligator.org
Gymnastics vs. No. 8 LSU 7:15 p.m. Friday: ESPN2
Men’s and women’s swimming and diving vs. No. 14 Auburn 11 a.m. Saturday: SEC Network
Women's basketball vs. No. 21 Arkansas 3 p.m. Sunday: SEC Network+
Men’s basketball vs. No. 1 Baylor 8 p.m. Saturday: ESPN
TRACK Florida throwers set to compete in Hokie Invitational
By Declan Walsh Sports Writer
Three Florida throwers will make the trip up to Blacksburg, Virginia, to participate in the Hokie Invitational, the third event of the indoor season.
Beginning on Friday, the meet will feature 55 events showcasing athletes from 14 different schools across two days.
The first and only Gator in action on Friday is senior Amara Wiggan, who is competing in the women’s weight throw at 7 p.m. She won first place in that same competition just two weeks earlier in the Orange and Purple Elite Invitational at Clemson, as her 19.03m mark bested the competition by more than 1.5m and saw her fall just short of her personal record.
That 19.03m mark places Wiggan at the top of her field for tomorrow’s event, but Virginia Tech’s Emma Thor and Pavla Kuklova have earned similar scores, throwing 18.85m and 18.95m, respectively.
Connor Bandel is the next Gator to compete, he’ll throw at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the men’s shot put.
The redshirt junior is coming off of a similarly impressive performance in Clemson, as he threw 19.29m, breaking his indoor PR and seeing him climb to seventh all-time among UF indoor shot put throwers. The Michigan native appears to be a favorite to score consecutive victories in the men’s shot-put, but may face stiff competition from talented Virginia Tech sophomore Tyson Jones.
The final Gator slated to compete in the Invitational is Thea Jensen. The freshman impressed in her first collegiate performance at the Orange and Purple Invitational. Jensen registered a 15.25m throw, finishing in third and losing out to former Gator Lloydricia Cameron.
Despite having just one meet under her belt, Jensen had posted a better PR in the shot put than all but three of her competitors this weekend, meaning another strong performance is on the cards.
The Gators will be in action next weekend, as well, as they travel to Fayetteville, Arkansas, to take part in the Razorback Invitational.
@dawalsh_UF dwalsh@alligator.org
MEN’S TENNIS Gators hold ITA Regional Kick-Off Weekend at home
By Zachary Huber Sports Writer
The Gators men’s tennis team is poised to return to the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Madison, Wisconsin, for the fourth-straight year.
It starts its journey to Wisconsin when Florida hosts the 12th-annual ITA Kickoff Weekend.
UF will welcome USF, Temple and Fresno State to Gainesville to compete in a single-elimination regional. The No. 1-seeded Gators are slated to open against No. 4 seed Temple Saturday at 2 p.m. at Linder Stadium.
This will be the fourth year in a row and the 11th occurrence overall Florida has hosted the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
On Wednesday, the SEC released its Preseason Coaches’ Poll. The Gators were picked as the favorite by the league’s coaches to win the SEC title for the second-consecutive year. Florida racked up 155 points with Texas A&M in second (139) and Georgia and South Carolina tied for third (120). Last year, Florida knocked off FAU 4-1 on Jan. 27 for the right to compete in the 2019 National Team Indoors in Chicago. The opening round will start Saturday when No. 2 seed USF takes on No. 3 seed Fresno State at 11 a.m. The losers will square off in a consolation match at 10 a.m. on Sunday followed by the championship match at 2 p.m.
UF enters the ITA Kickoff weekend 4-1 on the year after dominating UCF 6-1 and Stetson 7-0 last weekend.
Florida has yet to drop a doubles point this season. They hold a 10-1 mark in dual doubles action. The duos of Will Grant and Johannes Ingildsen (3-1), Oliver Crawford and Sam Riffice (2-0) and Duarte Vale and Josh Goodger (2-0) have carried UF in doubles action.
The Gators have been steady in singles, winning 23 out of 30 matches. They are led by Duarte Vale (4-1) and freshman Blaise Bicknell (4-0). Riffice, Goodger, Ingildsen, Crawford, Andy Andrade and Lukas Greif, who each have tallied two wins.
USF (3-0) comes into town undefeated. Its best player, No. 121 Chase Ferguson, is undefeated with three wins along with four other Bulls.
The Bulls doubles duos have been strong, failing to lose a doubles point all season (6-1).
Florida previously faced USF on Jan. 28, 2018, when they dominated the Bulls 4-0. Fresno State is the defending Mountain West Conference champion and are coming off a solid fall tournament season and are led by reigning conference player of the year, Zdenek Derkas, who sits at No. 124 in the ITA rankings.
Finally, the Temple Owls will be playing their first match. They finished last season with a 16-7 record going 3-1 in American Athletic Conference play. Florida and Temple will play their first match in their programs’ respective histories.
By Bryan Matamoros Sports Writer
Guard Kiara Smith has not been herself as of late, and it’s hurting Florida’s women’s basketball team.
UF’s primary ball handler averages 12.9 points per game and makes fi eld goals at a 41.6-percent clip, but she hasn’t come close to those numbers in her last two showings.
Smith was held to just four points in each of UF’s double-digit losses to then-No. 24 Tennessee and then-No. 12 Texas A&M on a combined 3-of-15 shooting from the fl oor.
The Gators will need a bounce-back perfor
mance from their fl oor general on Sunday in order to claim a road victory against No. 21 Arkansas at Bud Walton Arena.
With Smith’s projected backcourt partner — redshirt junior guard Danielle Rainey — tearing her ACL in a closed-door scrimmage less than two weeks before the season opener, Smith has elevated her production on the offensive side of the ball.
Her 7.1 points per game in her sophomore season led to a total of 221 points in 31 contests. She’s already surpassed that mark this year, registering 245 points in 19 appearances. The redshirt junior racked up 237 of those points in the fi rst 17 games, but she’s only managed eight in the last two. Smith’s height put her at a disadvantage in UF’s 78-50 loss against the Volunteers last Thursday. Every player in Tennessee’s starting fi ve measured 6 foot or taller, and it used that length to lock down Smith, who stands at 5-foot-10.
Just two of her 10 fi eld-goal attempts found the bottom of the net, as the Volunteers clogged the paint and forced Smith into a handful of diffi cult shots.
The same thing happened over the weekend when the Aggies ran away with a 27-point victory over the Gators.
Smith missed four out of her fi ve shots, with her only bucket coming at the 1:11 mark of the third quarter when she knocked down a three-pointer. Her other point came at the freethrow line.
Texas A&M did not allow Smith to attack the basket and score at the rim, one of her calling cards this season. Whenever she approached the paint, the defense collapsed on her to prevent a clear path to the cup.
Sunday’s conference showdown against Arkansas poses a good opportunity for Smith to fi nd that early-season groove that’s been missing from her game over the past week.
@bryan_2712 bmatamoros@alligator.org
Samantha Harrison // Alligator Staff Kerry Blackshear Jr.'s 8.7 rebounds per game leads the team.
Baylor is 16-1
Bearing down on defense MEN'S BASKETBALL, from pg. 10
Baylor’s defense comes into Gainesville allowing the sixth-fewest points per game in the country at 58.5. The Bears have allowed an opponent to score at least 65 points four times all season, and Oklahoma State is the only one to hit 60 points in Baylor’s last seven games.
BU’s biggest test of the season came two weeks ago in its road tilt against No. 3 Kansas. The Bears had never won a game in Allen Fieldhouse in program history, but they came away with a dominant 67-55 victory. Baylor’s defense, which ranks 19th in the nation in fi eld-goal percentage (.380), held a strong Kansas offense below 40 percent from the fi eld and forced 14
turnovers.
The Gators have faced four teams currently in the top 30 by KenPom’s adjusted defensive effi ciency and have an even 2-2 record in those games. However, the wins came against Xavier (No. 29) and Auburn (No. 30), while Florida was blown out by two top-20 teams in Florida State (No. 18) and Butler (No. 19).
Baylor is ranked fourth in that metric, making this UF’s biggest test offensively by far. The Gators’ offense, while ugly at times, has been mostly effective this season, ranking 25th in adjusted offensive effi ciency, according to KenPom.
Florida comes into this matchup in its best offensive form of the season, producing at least 70 points in each of its last seven games and 12 of its last 15. But points won’t come easy against Baylor, and an early defi cit will be hard to recover from, even on its home court.
@Bfarrell727 bfarrell@alligator.org
UF has been inconsistent
COLUMN, from pg. 10
At the end of the day, basketball teams will only go as far as their best player takes them, and even with Blackshear Jr.’s impressive season, I don’t think he’s a player who you can give the ball to and say, “Take me there.”
The grad transfer is leading the team in scoring (14.8) and rebounding (8.7), but is still falling short of his preseason and NBA Draft lottery expectations (whether those expectations are fair is a different story).
Don’t get me wrong, I think this team is on an upward trend, and I think there is far too much talent for it to remain out of the Top 25 for much longer.
But unless it fi nds out what kind of team it is, elite teams like its Saturday opponent, No. 1 Baylor, will make quick work of the Gators come March.
@JSalvadorSports jsalvador@alligator.org
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