Coach Jumper
"the right words"
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No. 24/25 Tennessee (13-3, 3-1 SEC) Florida (10-6, 2-2 SEC)Thursday at 6:01 p.m. ET
Tennessee won its second straight league game and picked up its fifth victory in its last six contests on Sunday, as the Lady Vols overcame an early four-point deficit to defeat Georgia by 17, 73-56. UT also has SEC wins over Missouri (77-66) and Ole Miss (84-28) and is tied for third in the league. Florida sits at .500 in the league standings after falling to #14 Kentucky on Sunday in Gainesville, 65-45. The Gators, who are tied for seventh in the SEC standings, have wins over Vandy (68-60) and Auburn (83-63) and lost to #15 Mississippi St. (93-47). Following Thursday's battle, Tennessee next plays at home Monday against Alabama 7 p.m. on the SEC Network.
RECAPPING OUR LAST GAME
- UT (13-3, 3-1 SEC) was led by junior Rennia Davis with 17 points and six rebounds. Senior Lou Brown and freshmen Tamari Key and Jordan Horston were also in double figures with 12, 13 and 14, respectively.
- Horston led Tennessee team in assists, tallying seven. Sophomore Jazmine Massengill recorded a team-high seven rebounds, while UT out-rebounded UGA, 35-29, and out-scored UGA in the paint, 36-22, with 20 of those coming in the second half.
- Balanced Attack: Coming off a game against Ole Miss that saw seven Lady Vols score eight or more points and three tally more than 10, UT had four players make their way into double digits against Georgia. Tennessee has now had three or more players in double figures in 11 of 16 contests.
- Block Party: Freshman Tamari Key blocked four shots against Georgia, moving her season total to 41. Her average of 2.6 bpg. ranks third in the SEC, but she is first in league games at 4.5 per contest.
- Double-Figure Streaks: Rennia Davis scored in double figures for the 14th straight game. She now has hit 10 or more points in 14 of 15 games this season and in 28 of her past 29 contests. Jordan Horston, meanwhile, has developed consistency in scoring as well, hitting double figures in her sixth-consecutive game and for the 10th occasion in 2019-20.
- Sharing The Ball: Tennessee recorded 20 assists in the win over UGA, marking the sixth time this season the Lady Vols have had 20 or more dimes in a contest. They were coming off a game at Ole Miss where they dished out 24 assists.
- Sharp Shooters: The Lady Vols shot a scorching 51.9 percent from the floor against Georgia and hit a season-high 66.7 percent of shots from behind the arc. Tennessee has now hit at least half of its shots in seven games this season. During the 2018-19 season, that occurred only three times.
- The Lady Vols are allowing opponents only 30.6 percent shooting from the field and have allowed only No. 1/1 Stanford (42.6) Missouri (40.4) and Kentucky (40.0) to shoot better than 39% this season. Eight opponents have failed to shoot 30 percent vs. Tennessee, including Ole Miss, which shot 18.5 percent on Jan. 9. That was the lowest percentage since Jan. 8, 2012, when Arkansas shot 18.2 percent.
- Tennessee has outworked 14 of 16 foes on the glass this season and has pulled down 53 or more rebounds nine times.
- Tennessee has shot for a higher percentage from the field in every game except for the Texas and Stanford match-ups, in which the Longhorns knocked down 36.2 to UT's 30.6 percent and the Cardinal prevailed, 42.6 to 27.8.
- Six of 11 Big Orange players are hitting 55 percent or better during SEC games. Starters Tamari Key (62.5), Lou Brown (55.6) and Rennia Davis (55.0) are in that club, as are reserves Jaiden McCoy (.800), Emily Saunders (.800) and Jessie Rennie (.600).
- UT shoots 45.4 from the field for the season and has hit better than 46 percent in each of its last six games, including three where it shot 50 or better.
- The Lady Vols are shooting 30.5 percent on threes for the season, but getting up extra shots is paying off in conference play. The Lady Vols hit eight of 12 three-point attempts vs. Georgia (66.7) and are now connecting on 45.5 percent (20-44) of treys during league play.
- Tennessee has recorded 15 or more assists in every game but one this season (Stanford, 7) and has tallied 20 or more on six occasions.
- The Big Orange women have won the opening tip in all 16 games, with Lou Brown leading the Lady Vols with four game-opening buckets for her team.
- Brown also leads UT with six charges taken.
- Tennessee has boosted its free throw shooting percentage to 78.7 in SEC play, standing well above the 61.6 pace during non-conference games.
- Kellie Harper's squad held Ole Miss to 28 total points on Jan. 9, marking the fewest points surrendered since allowing a school-record low of 26 to Puerto Rico-Mayaquez on Nov. 29, 2002.
- Tennessee is allowing only nine points by opponents in the second quarter of SEC games and is closing out games by scoring an average of 22.8 points during the fourth quarter.
- UT now has three players scoring in double figures in SEC play. In addition to Rennia Davis, Jordan Horston is second at 12.8, followed by Tamari Key at 11.3. Rae Burrell is right behind at 9.3 ppg.
- Massengill has the highest (12 vs. Missouri) and second-highest (10 vs. Portland State) assist totals by an SEC player this season.
- UT's freshmen are not shy about contributing. Jordan Horston leads the team in assists (81) and steals (25) and is second in three-pointers (16). Tamari Key is tops in blocks (41) and field goal percentage (.600) among starters, and Emily Saunders has the best field goal percentage (.708) among reserves.
- Freshman Tamari Key's 41 blocked shots rank her No. 16 in the nation and third in the SEC. She is averaging 2.6 blocks per game, which ranks 19th nationally and No. 3 in the SEC. She is currently averaging 4.5 per game in SEC play, which leads all league players.
- After hitting 55.3 percent (21-38) from the charity stripe in the non-conference slate, Kasiyahna Kushkituah has hit 9 of 10 free throws (90.0) in SEC play.
RECAPPING UF'S LAST GAME
- The University of Florida women's basketball team (11-6, 2-2) hung tough but saw No. 14 Kentucky (14-2, 3-1) pull away in the fourth quarter, dropping a 65-45 decision to the Wildcats last Sunday afternoon at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center.
- Scoring in double figures for the 14th time this season and the sixth-straight game, redshirt junior Kiara "Kiki" Smith paced the Gators with 16 points, while sophomore Ariel Johnson posted 10 on 4-of-6 shooting.
- Holding their opponent below their scoring average for the 12th time this season, the Gators limited UK to its second-fewest points scored this year and only 31.4 percent shooting on the afternoon.
- Florida went toe to toe with the nationally-ranked Wildcats for the bulk of the game and faced only an eight-point deficit entering the fourth before UK pulled away by outscoring UF, 23-11.
- The Gators shot 42 percent (18-of-42) from the floor, but the Wildcats forced a season-high 25 turnovers and out-rebounded Florida, 38-36.
VolNation
Last 3 game recaps for Fla:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The University of Florida women's basketball team dropped a 65-45 decision to the Kentucky Wildcats Sunday afternoon…Scoring in double figures for the 14th time this season and the sixth-straight game, redshirt-junior Kiki Smith paced the Gators with 16 points while sophomore Ariel Johnson posted 10 on 4-of-6 shooting. Holding their opponent below their scoring average for the 12th time this season, the Gators limited Kentucky to its second-fewest points scored this season and only 31.4 percent shooting on the afternoon. Florida went toe to toe with nationally-ranked Wildcats for the majority of the game and faced only an eight-point deficit heading into the fourth, but Kentucky pulled away in the fourth, outscoring the Gators 23-11.
AUBURN, Ala. – The University of Florida women's basketball team (11-5, 2-1) picked up its second-straight conference victory as it cruised to an 83-63 win on the road at Auburn (6-8, 0-3) Thursday night. With the win, Florida is 2-1 to open SEC play for the first time since the 2015-16 season and at 11-5 is off to its best start since that same campaign. Scoring in double figures for the 14th straight game, Florida freshman guard Lavender Briggs paced the Gators with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor. Briggs' double-figure scoring streak is UF's longest since the 2000-01 season when Vanessa Hayden scored in double figures in 21 straight games. Kiki Smith, finishing with 10 or more points for the 12th time this season, scored 15, while Nina Rickards, who had just 12 points in her last six games, registered 13. Ariel Johnson added 10 off the bench while Kristina Moore checked in with 12 points and made five of her six shots. Scoring 80 points for the third time this season, Florida outscored the Tigers 42-22 in the paint and had seven players score six or more points. The Gators poured in 10 three-pointers, their second-most in a game this year.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Paced by freshman Lavender Briggs' 19 points, the University of Florida women's basketball team (10-5, 1-1) posted a 68-60 victory Sunday afternoon over visiting Vanderbilt (11-4, 1-1). The Gators faced an early seven-point deficit but wouldn't be denied as they picked up a win in their conference home opener for the first time since 2014. Scoring in double figures for the 13th-straight game, Briggs was again terrific as she registered 15 or more for the ninth time this season. Redshirt-junior guard Kiki Smith also finished in double figures scoring 17 points to go with five assists. Florida, improving to 9-1 when outrebounding its opponent, won the battle of the boards 42-35. Sunday marked the first time in 15 games that Vanderbilt was outrebounded and it entered the contest with a +10.8 rebound margin. Zada Williams, who had just seven points combined in her last two games, broke through for third double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Coming off the bench for the sixth-straight game, sophomore Ariel Johnson continued her strong play at the O'Connell Center as she added 10 of her own coupled with a season-best eight rebounds. Smith now has 12 double-figure scoring games this season, surpassing her total of 11 from last season.
Look out for #3 Lavender Briggs, she is due a big game. After her last outing she will be out for blood. Lock down on her early,,She has a very good stop-n-pop jumper. This is how she beats faster defenders, she uses her ability to change speeds and stop on a dime to off-balance a faster defender…
Their scoring point-guard Kiara Smith is a valid weapon. She is a scoring BHer. She WILL drive so post-presence has to be early and definite..If she gets her first drive or two without much resistance, she will look for it all game….Her crossover (XO) is her most effective BH go-to,,the defender will have to make an assertive effort to swipe in the path of the XO. Traditional defensive hand placement will do best with her (Ball side hand up defending the passing field and off-hand forward, swiping the XO path intermittently. I noticed that when the KY defender started guarding Kiara with hands in, she got very comfortable with her ball-handling.
Zada Williams #12 is their only other double figure threat….They do not have an over 40% 3 pt shooter…Asst to TO is 183 to 270 for a .67 to 1 ratio or in layman’s terms they 2 assists for every 3 turnovers…Their fastbreak isn’t.
Gameplan: Half-court traps and constant ball pressure will be key. Off the ball denial defense will frustrate them too…The do not crash the board (More of an opportunistic rebound group),,we should get 12-20 OB’s….This is another team that has worked on and celebrates taking charges. SO if you’re going to take in into the lane on anything but a FB, you better expect contact……
Coach Jumper’s prediction: UT 79 Fla 63
Final score: UT 78 Fla 50
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