Florida
Florida Heads to Ole Miss for First SEC Road Game – ESPN 98.1 FM – 850 AM WRUF
After a hard-fought contest against No. 6 Kentucky to open the Gators’ SEC men’s basketball schedule last Saturday, Florida travels to Oxford on Wednesday for a meeting with the Ole Miss Rebels.
The meeting will be the first road SEC game of the season for coach Todd Golden and his group, who enter Wednesday’s 9 p.m. game with a 10-4 record. Meanwhile, the No. 23 Rebels (13-1) have started off strong but are coming off of a blow-out loss against No. 5 Tennessee.
Steve Russell spoke with Marc Dukes, a member of Ole Miss’s radio team, Tuesday to discuss the upcoming matchup.
Buying into Beard’s Culture
Ole Miss is in the midst of its first season with Chris Beard at the helm. The former Texas head coach left Austin in a cloud of controversy, but the Rebels took a chance on hiring him. So far, it has paid off.
Beard led Ole Miss to 13 consecutive wins to tip-off the 2023-24 season. The early success can in part be credited to the “buy-in” of this Rebels team to Beard’s system and culture.
Another area of success so far for the Rebels is the offense. Compared to last year’s group, Ole Miss has been shooting the ball with more confidence, which has seen the Rebels’ points per game jump by almost 10 points.
“One of the big differences, I think, is the confidence the players have offensively this year,” Dukes said. “They’re shooting the ball really well.”
While there are still several areas for Ole Miss to improve, the direction the program is heading this early into his time in Oxford is a step in the right direction.
Florida vs. Ole Miss: Keys to the Game
Among the important keys to the game for both sides will be rebounding. Ole Miss has been outrebounded in several of the team’s victories, averaging a -2.4 rebound margin. Meanwhile, Florida has been impressive on the glass, averaging a +10.6 rebound margin.
The Rebels also continue to be a work in progress on the defensive end of the floor, which should grant the Gators high-percentage scoring opportunities. However, Dukes is confident Ole Miss is improving on defense as it gets comfortable with Beard’s system.
A major area of struggle for Golden’s group has been free-throw shooting. Florida is shooting just above 65% from the charity stripe as a team, which ranks 321st in Division I. In the Gators’ home loss to Kentucky, the team went a combined 18-for-29 (.620) from the line.
Against an Ole Miss team struggling on the glass, Florida will need to take advantage of its second-chance opportunities and convert free throws to get the victory on the road.
Both Teams Looking for First SEC Victory
Both the Gators and Rebels come into Wednesday’s tilt after dropping their SEC openers.
Florida led against Kentucky for much of the game, but failed to close out what would have been a crucial Quadrant I win. Meanwhile, the Rebels fell behind Tennessee early and never really got back into the game.
The Rebels will rely heavily on a trio of players who have helped them start the year strong. Matthew Murrell has scored 10 or more points in 13 of the Rebels’ 14 games, including three contest with 20+ points. The IMG Academy product has shot the ball well and is a scoring threat from anywhere on the floor. Jaemyn Brakefield has also had a strong start to the season, especially as of late. The senior has five consecutive games with 15 or more points, including a 27 point performance against California.
As for the Gators, they will need the team’s leading scorer Walter Clayton Jr. and junior guard Will Richard to return to their red-hot form. The two shot a combined 3-for-18 from the field in the loss against Kentucky. While Florida does have a variety of players who are able to score, it’ll be important for two of the Gators’ stars to step up on the road.
With both teams in search of their first SEC wins of the season, Wednesday night’s game in Oxford should have a lot of intensity. The SEC Network and 98.1-FM/850-AM WRUF will provide coverage.
Florida
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Florida
Florida mother Destiny Byassee killed when fake airbags ‘detonated like a grenade,’ lawsuit alleges
A young Florida mother was killed last year when her car’s counterfeit airbag “detonated like a grenade,” according to a lawsuit.
Destiny Byassee’s used 2020 Chevy Malibu passed through multiple conmen before its fake emergency airbags deployed in a June frontal collision, causing a blast that “shot metal and plastic shrapnel throughout” the car, her family alleges.
“Several fragments from the blast struck Ms. Byassee in the face, head, and neck, ultimately killing her,” stated the complaint, obtained by Law & Crime.
The 22-year-old “was a mother of two young children and had her entire life ahead of her,” attorney John Morgan, who is also representing the family, said in a news release.
According to the lawsuit, Byassee bought the doomed sedan from DriveTime, a national used car company, without being given a full history of the car.
The former Enterprise Rent-A-Car car was involved in a devastating September 2022 crash that caused damage that “was so significant that the vehicle should have been classified as a total loss, issued a salvage title, and removed from service,” the lawsuit alleges.
Rather than scrap the vehicle, Enterprise allegedly sold the car to DriveTime through Manheim Auctions, Inc., which bills itself as the largest wholesale automobile auction company in the world.
It was then repaired at Jumbo Automotive in Hollywood, Florida, the complaint continues, claiming that shop owner Haim Levy “purchased counterfeit and non-compliant airbag components” by a Chinese company to replace the Chevrolet factory airbag “and proceeded to install these components into the subject Chevy Malibu.”
Not only were the dangerous fake bags used, but Levy allegedly repaired the deployed seatbelt pretensioner — the part of a complete system that tightens the belt during a crash — incorrectly, but in a cunning way that made it appear to work properly.
Byassee “had no idea that the vehicle had been improperly and illegally repaired,” her family said.
Both the counterfeit airbag and faulty seatbelt pretensioner “were signaled to deploy” during the June 2023 collision, according to the lawsuit.
“However, because the subject Chevy Malibu’s front driver-side seatbelt pretensioner was inoperable, the pretensioner did not deploy as originally designed,” the lawsuit states. “Worse, because the subject Chevy Malibu’s front driver-side airbag system included counterfeit and non-compliant components, the airbag detonated like a grenade and shot metal and plastic shrapnel throughout the vehicle cabin.”
The filing pointedly said that photographs depicted the “horrifying event,” including one of the “shredded and blood-soaked front driver-side airbag.”
Cathy King, Byassee’s grandmother, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the 6- and 4-year-old children the young woman left behind, as well as her husband and mother.
Byassee “believed she was buying a safe and reliable vehicle, but our lawsuit alleges that several automotive companies worked to skirt the system by repairing what should’ve been a totaled vehicle, all just to make money,” Morgan said in the release.
“Because of that, Ms. Byassee lost her life, and her children will grow up without their mother.”
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial on 14 various counts against the various defendants – including strict liability, negligence and deceptive trade practices.
Neither Enterprise, Manheim, DriveTime nor Jumbo Automotive immediately answered The Post’s request for comment.
Florida
Don Moreland inducted into the Florida Law Enforcement Hall of Fame
OCALA, Fla. (WCJB) – A former Marion County Sheriff was inducted into the Florida Law Enforcement Hall of Fame today.
Former sheriff Don Moreland got emotional giving his acceptance speech, more than fifty years after he was elected.
He was Marion County Sheriff for twenty years, from 1972 to 1992.
Once he left his post, former President Bill Clinton made him the Marshall for the Middle District of Florida.
“I am deeply honored being included in this whole thing. When you get to be 90 you really sincerely appreciate everything a little bit more,” said Don Moreland.
Moreland still holds the record for the ‘longest-serving sheriff’ in Marion County.
TRENDING: Gainesville Opportunity Center hosts its 3rd annual bike day
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