Preview: University Titans vs. New Smyrna Beach Barracudas
The University Titans and the New Smyrna Beach Barracudas will face off at 7:00 p.m. on January 16th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: University has struggled recently with 16 losses in a row, while New Smyrna Beach will arrive with three straight victories.
University suffered their biggest loss yet this season on Friday. They were beaten by Umatilla 79-19. While losing is never fun, University can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 647th, while Umatilla is ranked 143rd).
In what's become a running theme this season, New Smyrna Beach gave their fans yet another huge victory on Thursday. They breezed by Pine Ridge on the road to the tune of 63-15. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest victory New Smyrna Beach has posted yet this season.
University bumped their record down to 0-14 with that defeat, which was their sixth straight at home dating back to last season. Those losses could be blamed on the team's offensive performance across that stretch, as they only averaged 21.2 points per game. As for New Smyrna Beach, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 8-5 record this season.
University was dealt a bruising 69-20 loss at the hands of New Smyrna Beach in their previous meeting back in December of 2023. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of New Smyrna Beach's Corrin Austell, who scored 23 points along with seven steals and five rebounds. Now that University knows the damage she can cause, will they be able to stop her this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
