Spartans Set to Battle Bucs

TAMPA, Fla. – The University of Tampa men's and women's basketball teams will host the Barry University Buccaneers on Wednesday. The women will compete at 5:30 pm and the men will have their matchup at 7:30 pm.  

The Matchup (Men's): University of Tampa (12-5, 5-3 SSC) vs. Barry (14-1, 7-1 SSC)

The Matchup (Women's): University of Tampa (11-4, 6-2 SSC) vs. Barry (4-12, 2-6 SSC)

Date/Time (Women's): Wednesday, January 18 at 5:30 pm. 

Date/Time (Men's): Wednesday, January 18 at 7:30 pm.

Location: Bob Martinez Athletics Center | Tampa, Fla.

Last Time Out (Women's): The Spartans travelled to Boca Raton to take on the Lynn University Fighting Knights and defeated them in a decisive manner with a score of 74-56. The Spartans jumped out to an early lead over the Knights and behind senior Teresa Kucera and senior Elena de Alfredo the Spartans offense was stellar. de Alfredo recorded 19 points, four rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block. Kucera was the second leading point scorer with 17, which set a new career high for the senior. The Knights got on a small run of their own but it was not enough to stifle the Spartans offensive efforts. Tampa went on to win by 18 points. As a team, Tampa shot 51.1 percent from the field, tallied 40 rebounds, 10 assists, and 24 bench points. 

Last Time Out (Men's): The Spartans took on the Fighting Knights of Lynn University and jumped out to a quick lead over Lynn. The Tampa offense was dominant as they led by as many as 15 points going into half time. The second half of the game started much like the first, until the last two minutes of the game when the Knights offense took off and tied the game with 20 seconds left on the clock. The game went into overtime and the Knights took their first lead of the game after a three pointer that would put them up by one point. The Knights continued to score and ended up winning the competition 90-85. Junior Marcel Robinson led all Spartans with 30 points and 12 rebounds, his first double-double of the season. Freshman Mekhi Biffle was the second leading point scorer with 22 points and 10 rebounds, tallying his second double-double of his career. Freshman Brent Duncan set a new career high with 8 points. As a team, the Spartans shot 52.5 percent from the field and tallied 46 rebounds and 18 assists. 

About the Spartans (Women's): The Spartans are led offensively by senior de Alfredo who is second in the SSC for points per game with 16.3. She is followed by junior Karma Jeremie and Faith Sanders with 12.5 and 10.5, respectively. As a team, the Spartans are averaging 66.9 points per game and have a 47.9 field goal percentage.

About the Spartans (Men's): UT is led offensively by sophomore Pat Bacon, tallying 15.1 points per game. He is followed by junior Robinson and junior Duke Shelton with 14.6 and 14.2, respectively. Shelton sits in first place in the SSC for rebounds with 9.9 per game and in second place for blocked shots with 1.4 per game. As a team, the Spartans are second in conference for field goal percentage with 49 percent.

About the Bucs (Women's): Lauren Seyranian leads the Bucs with 167 points averaging 11.4 per game. She is followed by Julia Paulin who is averaging 9.1 points per game. As a team, the Bucs are averaging 56.6 points per game, 32 rebounds per game, and shooting 38.7 percent from the field. 

About the Bucs (Men's): The Barry Bucs are led offensively by Adrian Gonzalez who has 319 points and is averaging 22.8 points per game. As a team, Barry is shooting 51.9 percent from the field and collecting 38 rebounds per game. The Bucs have tallied 96 steals and 38.

Series History (Women's): The Spartans lead the all-time series record over the Bucs with a 45-20 record. 

Series History (Men's): The Spartans lead the all-time series record with the Bucs with a 41-24 record.

Tickets: Tickets for are $5 for adults, senior citizens and coaches. Children under 12 will be admitted free. UT students, faculty and staff will be admitted free with a valid student ID.

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