The week ahead in First Coast college basketball
Recapping the past week and a look ahead to this week for First Coast NCAA college basketball teams.
Men
Records
Flagler 16-3 (9-1 Peach Belt)
Jacksonville 13-7 (5-3 ASUN)
Edward Waters 9-12
North Florida 5-17 (1-7 ASUN)
Player of the week: Flagler College senior guard Jaizec Lottie scored 48 points and gathered 18 rebounds and 11 assists in the Saints’ victories over Clayton State (85-81) and Lander (81-70). Lottie had 31 points and 10 rebounds against Clayton and 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists vs. Lander. He also made 15 of 18 free throws.
Game of the week: In a game where both teams had double-digit scoring runs and both had eight-point leads, Lipscomb’s 77-74 victory over North Florida on Saturday was pretty good college basketball entertainment on a cold afternoon. The lead changed hands 13 times and was tied 11 times before the Bison put it away by making 6 of 8 free throws in the final 34 seconds. UNF at least looked like it continues to get its offense back on the fast track as Carter Hendricksen (a career-high 26 points) and Jose Placer (24) gave the Ospreys two 20-point scorers for the second game in a row.
Stat line of the week: Jarius Hicklen of UNF had 24 points, made 6 of 12 from the 3-point line and added six assists and four rebounds in the Ospreys’ 93-74 victory last Thursday that snapped a six-game ASUN losing streak.
This week’s schedule
Monday
Edward Waters at Miami-Middleton (Ohio), 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday
Edward Waters at Wilberforce (Ohio), 7:30 p.m.
Flagler at Georgia College, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday
North Florida at Jacksonville State, 8:30 p.m.
Jacksonville at North Alabama, 9 p.m.
Saturday
Columbus State (Ga.) at Flagler, 3:30 p.m.
North Florida at North Alabama, 4:30 p.m.
Jacksonville at Jacksonville State, 5 p.m.
Noting JU: Junior forward Tyreese Davis had a season-high 22 points in the Dolphins’ 79-59 victory over Central Arkansas on Saturday, and the most he’s scored since 25 points against North Alabama on Jan. 22, 2021. … JU is 10-0 at Swisher Gym this season. ... Sophomore forward Mike Marsh had 22 rebounds in JU’s two victories last week, with 10 to go with 14 points against Central Arkansas. Marsh had 17 rebounds in the previous five games combined. … The Dolphins haven't been able to figure out North Alabama, losing five of six since the Lions entering the ASUN. UNA swept JU last season in Florence. ... JU had a brief but intense rivalry with Jacksonville State from 1999-to-2015. The Dolphins went 8-2 against the Gamecocks but seven of the games were decided by single digits, including a 100-98 triple-overtime victory for JU on Feb. 2, 2002. ... The game will be only 10 miles from guard Kevion Nolan's hometown of Anniston, Ala.
Noting UNF: The Ospreys’ 10 blocked shots in the loss to Lipscomb was the most in one game since 2019. Jonathan Aybar had three, giving him five in the last two games. UNF had 18 in last week’s games and is second in the ASUN with 4.7 blocks per game. … Carter Hendrickson played in his 100th game for UNF against Central Arkansas. … The Ospreys have faced Jacksonville State only once prior to Thursday, losing 83-78 on Nov. 21, 2018, in the Cancun Challenge. ... UNF is 4-2 against North Alabama and was eliminated from the ASUN tournament by the Lions last year with a 68-60 loss. UNF has won both games played in Florence, Ala.
Noting Flagler: The Saints’ two victories last week gave them a six-game winning streak. Defense has been the key, with Flagler holding opponents to .307 from beyond the arc, and taking advantage of 71 turnovers, 44 of them steals. … Forward Chris Metzger has been money inside, making .677 of his shots in Peach Belt games. … Because of cancellations due to the pandemic, the Saints haven't played Georgia College since a 79-58 victory at home on Feb. 1, 2020. The last game in Milledgeville was memorable -- a 98-96 overtime victory in which the Saints overcame a 38-14 Georgia College run in the second half to tie it in regulation. ... Flagler's 73-62 victory over Columbus last year broke a six-game losing streak in the rivalry.
Noting EWU: The Tigers have only four more games after Saturday’s contest against Oakwood, and the schedule is all over the map, both in terms of geography and timing. EWU hits the road for games in Ohio next week at Miami-Middleton and Wilberforce, giving them three games in five days. The Tigers are then off until Feb. 17 when they lose their home schedule against Morris, and finish the season Feb. 19 at Clark Atlanta.
Women
Records
Jacksonville 12-6 (5-2 ASUN)
Edward Waters 13-8
Flagler 10-10 (4-6 Peach Belt)
North Florida 10-10, 3-5 ASUN)
Player of the week: JU senior guard Taylor Hawks had 22 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and five steals in two games, both Dolphins victories. She scored the winning basket on a layup at the buzzer on Saturday to beat Central Arkansas 55-53 (after making a steal at the other end with 12 seconds left) and also led a perimeter defense that held the two opponents to .181 from beyond the 3-point arc (6 of 33).
Game of the week: UNF senior forward Jazz Bond atoned for a missed free throw with three seconds left that could have won the game in overtime by scoring a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 3:27 left in the extra period as the Osprey went on to beat Central Arkansas 83-75 at UNF Arena on Saturday. The game was tied nine times, with seven lead changes. Bond had 22 points, Rhetta Moore had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds and Summah Evans added a career-high 18 points.
Stat line of the week: Flagler senior guard Tori Pearce posted the second triple-double of the season among area women’s college teams in the Saints 77-63 loss on Saturday to Lander. She had 18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and added four blocked shots. Pearce has eight games with at least a double-double this season, the last three in a row.
This week’s schedule
Wednesday
Flagler at Georgia College, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday
North Florida at Jacksonville State, 4:30 p.m.
Edward Waters at Ave Maria (Fla.), 5:30 p.m.
Jacksonville at North Alabama, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday
Columbus State (Ga.) at Flagler, 1:30 p.m.
Jacksonville at Jacksonville State, 1:45 p.m.
North Florida at North Alabama, 2 p.m.
Savannah State at Edward Waters, 3 p.m.
Noting JU: The Dolphins are 1-5 against North Alabama and 4-7 against Jacksonville State. JU won the last three meetings against the Gamecocks. ... When Central Arkansas made only 1 of 6 3-point attempts against the Dolphins on Saturday, it marked the fourth game in a row opponents have made .250 or less from beyond the 3-point arc. JU has limited its foes to .212 (14 of 66) in 3-point attempts during that span. … Graduate senior center Asiah Jones saw her streak of three games in a row with three blocked shots ended against Central Arkansas. She has six games of three or more blocks.
Noting UNF: The Ospreys shot .509 from the floor in their victory over Lipscomb and improved their record to 10-3 when shooting 40 percent of better…. Jazz Bond is ninth in the nation with 2.6 blocked shots per game. … Junior guard Jaida Bond returns to North Alabama, where she was the Lions' leading scorer last season. UNF swept both games at Florence to go up 4-3 in the series, capped by an 80-77 overtime victory when Jazz Bond hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Bond sisters combined for 61 points and 10 of 16 from beyond the arc in that game. ... UNF has won both prior meetings with Jacksonville State, both in a holiday tournament the Ospreys hosted in 2011 and 2012.
Noting Flagler: The Saints are 9-7 against Georgia College, 7-5 when coach Maurice Smith was in Milledgeville. ... Flagler has lost four in a row to Columbus State and the last two meetings at home were painful: overtime losses of 71-68 and 84-76. ... Pearce collected 34 points, 20 rebounds, 15 assists, seven steals and six blocked shots in Flagler's games last week. She moved to fifth in the nation in NCAA Division II in assists with 6.1 per game.
Noting EWU: The Tigers will be out for a bit of payback against Ave Maria. EWU lost 78-74 at home on Nov. 29 but had only seven players available, including leading scorer La'Quanza Glover. Fleming Island graduate Molly Ragle led EWU with 21 points in that game. ... The Tigers lost 87-79 at Savannah State on Jan. 10, despite Glover's 28 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: The week ahead in First Coast college basketball
