That was the week that was: February 27, 2022

THIS TEAM IS CLUTCH!

If this gymnastics season has taught us one thing about the Gators, it is never count them out because head coach Jenny Rowland’s seniors are battle tested and almost oblivious to pressure.

“We talk a lot about how pressure is a privilege,” Megan Skaggs said Friday night after the 3rd-ranked Gators stuck it to 2nd-ranked Oklahoma 198.150-197.775.

This is how Skaggs handled the pressure. The Gators were on the balance beam and not enjoying one of their better nights. At the time, this was a white knuckles competition. Early in her routine, Skaggs had a slight bobble, but she adjusted on the fly, adding an aerial that was worth an extra .10 to compensate. She finished with a 9.875 score, far from her best, but it saved a 9.80 or thereabouts score that could have been costly.

Earlier in the meet, Skaggs had an outstanding 9.950 on the uneven bars. She had a 9.90 on floor after her saving alteration on the beam.

Then there was Trinity Thomas, another of the seniors. Her way of handling the pressure was a 9.925 on the vault, a 9.950 on bars, a 9.975 on the beam and a perfect 10 on floor. It was the 10 that sealed the win over Oklahoma. This is the third time this season Thomas has scored a 10 to keep the Gators unbeaten. It must be mentioned also that fellow senior Nya Reed did a 10 followed by a 9.975 to lift the Gators to a come-from-behind win over LSU.

It was the 13th time she’s had a perfect score in her collegiate career, the fifth time this season. Thomas is one of a handful of gymnasts who have the Collegiate Gym Slam – a perfect 10 on vault, bars, beam and floor. She could get an in-season Gym Slam if she can get a 10 on bars in the meets ahead.

Florida has already clinched at least a share of the SEC title. The Gators can win it outright at Auburn this weekend.

FORGET WHO IT WAS: 20 ASSISTS IN 31 MADE BASKETS IS IMPRESSIVE

Yes it was the Georgia Bulldogs, and yes, they stink. It will take a miracle of Jonah and the whale proportions for Tom Crean to be coaching Georgia next year after setting a Georgia school record for losses (23) in a season. Forget all that. What Florida (18-11, 8-8 SEC) did Saturday in Athens was seriously impressive. Twenty assists on 31 made baskets is really impressive no matter who the opponent is.

“It’s as well as we’ve played offensively all year,” White said after the Gators took an 84-72 win over the Bulldogs at Stegman Coliseum to even their SEC record at 8-8 and keep alive their hopes of making the NCAA Tournament. “The shooting percentages (31-60, 51.7 overall; 14-31, 45.2 3-pointers). “The shooting percentages speak for themselves. We were 14-31 … when you complement that with 20 [assists] and six [turnovers], you’ve got a chance to beat an SEC opponent.”

From a passing standpoint, the tone of the game was set early on by Colin Castleton. Georgia made it its life mission to keep Castleton from going off the way he did against Arkansas (29 points), so every time the ball came into the post, they surrounded him with two or three defenders. That left open shooters and Castleton found them. Four of his five assists were in the early going of the first half.

Castleton finished the game with 10 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots to go with those five assists. He may not rebound with the same ferocity as Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe and he may not be as prolific a shot blocker as Auburn’s Walker Kessler, but since he came back from the shoulder injury each game is a confirmation that Colin Castleton is the best all-around big man in the Southeastern Conference.

Saturday’s game was also a chance for Phlandrous Fleming Jr. to show off in his home town and before 50 (or more) family and close friends. Fleming was on a mission from the get-go, but especially in the second half when he scored 16 of his game-high 27 points. Fleming was responsible for seven straight points when the Gators shot out of the second half gate on a 10-0 run. He started out with a steal and a pass to Tyree Appleby for a three. After a steal by Myreon Jones, he had a thunderous dunk on the fast break. He grabbed an offensive rebound and passed to Castleton for an easy layup.

Fleming hit 11-18 shots overall, 4-9 from the 3-point line. He also had five rebounds, four assists and a steal. With Anthony Duruji out against Georgia and his status moving forward because of a lower leg issue, Fleming is going to play a lot of power forward and it’s going to be imperative that he put up similar numbers moving forward.

Appleby hit 5-9 on his 3-pointers as he finished the game with 21 points, seven assists and a steal. He is another one who has to be consistent for the Gators to make it to the NCAA Tournament. He only had two turnovers with the seven assists. When he protects the ball, he sets the tone and the Gators have low turnover games.

Sunday, Jerry Palm of CBS had the Gators back in his tournament brackets. If they beat Vanderbilt Tuesday night, it will solidify UF as one of those last teams in. A win over Kentucky next Saturday would certainly get the Gators off the bubble. Otherwise, here’s what it will take: a win over Vandy and maybe two wins at the SEC to get in that 7-10 area of the bracketing. It really doesn’t matter if you are a seven or a 10 because in the NCAA Tournament opening round, seven plays 10 and eight plays nine. Typically, these are the most evenly matched teams in the tournament. If you’re a 12-seed or higher, you’re going to start out the tournament playing a very high seeded team and that is to be avoided if at all possible.

Of course, if the Gators lose to Vanderbilt, they’ll almost have to beat Kentucky or at least get to the SEC Tournament semifinals just to avoid the Nobody’s Interested Tournament.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: MAYBE THE PRESSURE IS OFF NOW

Florida’s loss to Missouri (77-73) Sunday afternoon at the O-Dome was the third in a row for the Gators. It knocked UF (20-9, 10-6 SEC) out of the coveted double-bye at the SEC Tournament that begins in Nashville on Wednesday but that might not be a bad thing. It’s obvious that in the last three games, the Gators have been putting the pressure on themselves by trying to set records in this season that began with the SEC coaches picked UF to finish dead last.

The last two games have been completely uncharacteristic of this team. At Vanderbilt, the Gators committed 28 turnovers yet they almost pulled out a win in the final minute of the game. UF was down by 13 with 4:47 left in the fourth quarter to Missouri when they mounted a furious comeback led by Jordyn Merritt, who scored 15 of her 23 points and Kiki Smith, who scored all but two of her 15.

Asked after the game if perhaps the Gators were pressing a bit too much, interim head coach Kelly Rae Finley nodded her head in agreement. Smith, who had one of the worst games of her career going until the final four minutes, said the last week or so has been too much like a business and that the Gators have to get back to having fun again.

There is no doubt the Gators were out of sorts the last couple of games. Perhaps it’s because they were trying to ensure that Finley will have the interim tag removed, or simply because after all they have endured leading up to this season, they wanted to finish by setting a school record for SEC wins in a season.

The record won’t be set, but this is still a team that will make the NCAA Tournament and is a serious threat to go a long way at the SEC Tournament. Now that the regular season is over, they know they’ll be in the Big Dance. Maybe they can get back to having fun again.

UF INDOOR TRACK: FLORIDA MEN/WOMEN FINISH SECOND AT SEC INDOORS

By now we should expect the Gators to finish strong at the SEC Indoor Track and Field Meet. At Texas A&M, Florida’s women and men both finished second to Arkansas. The UF women finished second in last year’s indoor championships while it was the highest finish for the men since they won the event in 2019. UF coach Mike Holloway has won five SEC men’s indoor titles and three women’s titles. Since Holloway became the UF head coach, the men have finished top three in the SEC indoors 15 times while the women have finished top three five times.

The Gators claimed four individual champions with Jasmine Moore scoring 20 points with her clean sweep of the long jump and triple jump. It was the third straight SEC Indoor triple jump championship for Moore, who shared the Commissioner’s Trophy with Lauren Gregory of Arkansas for scoring the most individual points in the meet.

Also winning championships were Dedrick Vanover (60 meters men, tie), Champion Allison (400 meters women), Grace Start (60 meters hurdles women) and Moore.

SOFTBALL: GATORS 4-0 AT UCF CLASSIC WITHOUT HIGHTOWER

With All-American Elizabeth Hightower sidelined with a back issue, Natalie Lugo earned her scholarship over the weekend to keep the Gators unbeaten (16-0). In winning four games at the UCF Knights Classic, Lugo pitched five strong innings to get the win against Oakland (6-1) on Saturday, then went five innings to get the win against James Madison Sunday. When the Gators were in trouble against UCF Sunday evening, Lugo came on to pitch the final two innings to pick up the save.

Lugo (5-0) was the workhorse for the weekend, going 13 innings while giving up eight hits, three earned runs and striking out 19 while walking five. Lexie Delbrey, who got the win with 2-2/3 innings of relief Friday night against DePaul (11-3 Florida win) and pitched a scoreless inning of relief against Oakland, struggled on Sunday. She walked three batters in relief of Lugo without recording an out in the seventh inning of Florida’s 6-4 win over James Madison and then gave up four hits, four runs and walked three in her start against UCF (12-11 UF win). Marrisa Mesiemore had a tough start Friday night and couldn’t find the strike zone against JMU on Sunday. She did give the Gators 1-1/3 innings of scoreless relief against UCF Sunday. Rylee Trlicek pitched a scoreless inning against Oakland got the save in the win over JMU when she got the final two outs. Against UCF, she gave up eight hits, six runs and walked three in 2-2/3 innings.

Since there is no telling at this point how long Hightower is going to be out, the Gators have to find some pitching in the week ahead. They face Southern Miss Wednesday and then play doubleheaders Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the Bubly Invitational at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium. It’s almost a given that Tim Walton will rest Hightower all next week with the SEC portion of the schedule cranking up on March 12 when Mississippi State comes to town.

The Gators did score 35 runs in their four games at the UCF tournament and their dormant power erupted with five home runs in the final two games. Hannah Adams raised her batting average to .462 with a 5-8 Sunday that included two homers and three RBI. Charla Echols hit home runs in both Sunday games and drove in seven runs. Freshman Kendra Falby kept her batting average above .500 (.519). She hit her second homer of the season against UCF and drove in four runs. She also stole 3-4 bases and is 16-17 on the season. As a team, the Gators have stolen 45 bases in 49 attempts. The team was 56-59 in 56 games last season.

BASEBALL: GATORS ARE 6-2 AFTER SWEEP OF GEORGIA STATE Was it just bad pitching on the part of Georgia State or have Florida’s bats truly awakened? It’s probably a combination of the two but Florida’s hitters were impressive as the Gators outscored the visiting Panthers, 29-6, to cap off a 5-0 week.

The Gators had 42 hits including nine home runs over the three games. The star of the weekend at the plate was leadoff hitter Colby Halter, who went 8-13 with three homers and seven RBI as he raised his batting average to .429. Wyatt Langford hit home runs on Friday and Saturday. Jud Fabian, Kris Armstrong and Josh Rivera hit their first home runs of the season and freshmen Rene Lastres and Ty Evans hit the first home runs of their UF careers.

Hunter Barco picked up where he left off last weekend when he got the Friday night start. He allowed three hits and struck out 12 as the Gators took a 4-1 win. Barco (2-0) has 23 strikeouts in 12 innings so far. Nick Ficarrotta picked up his second save, pitching three hitless innings while striking out six.

Freshman Phil Abner struggled for two innings Saturday when he gave up three hits, three runs and walked two, but four relievers limited the Panthers to six hits and one run the rest of the way. Blake Purnell pitched three scoreless innings of relief to get his first UF win.

Sunday, Timmy Manning gave up six hits but only one run in four innings. Ficarrotta pitched one scoreless inning of relief to pick up his second win. Three other relievers allowed no runs and four hits in four innings.

The Gators still strike out too much (20 times in three games), but there is power and Kevin O’Sullivan has players on his bench who are quite capable as well. Coastal Carolina transfer BT Riopelle (.438) continues to be a surprise and Sterlin Thompson (.419) has two doubles, three homers and a team-leading 11 RBI. As a team the Gators are now hitting .292.

Barco is the obvious ace of the pitching staff and Ficarrotta is the closer but who are the other two weekend starters? Brandon Sproat, who pitched five innings last week against North Florida, could be one of them. Timmy Manning has started three games. He’s got good movement on the ball and he’s a lefty. Since that rather tough start against Liberty in which he gave up five hits and four runs in three innings, he’s looked much better. Ryan Slater, Blake Purnell and Brandon Neely seem destined for long relief. Abner, Pierce Coppola and Karl Hartman might get most of their work midweek.

The Gators will travel to North Florida Tuesday night, return home to face FAMU on Wednesday and travel to Miami for three games next weekend.

UF MEN’S GOLF: GATORS IN THIRD AT SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS With Fred Biondi shooting a 66 and Ricky Castillo a 67, the Gators shot a team 275, which is 13-under par and good for third place after one day of the Southern Highlands Collegiate Tournament, which features nine of the nation’s top 35 teams. The Gators are seven shots off the pace set by Oklahoma and two behind second place Pepperdine.

UF LACROSSE: GATORS FALL TO NO. 5 MARYLAND, 18-8 The 7th-ranked Gators (1-2) fell behind 7-1 in the first quarter and could never make up the difference as they dropped an 18-8 decision to 5th-ranked Maryland (3-0) in College Park Saturday. Next up for the Gators is 4th-ranked Stony Brook next Saturday at Donald Dizney Stadium.