About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2020)
The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com SPORTS 2B Thursday, February 20, 2020 GOLF COLLEGE BASKCTBALL After pairing with Tiger, Ancer reaching new level Associated Press ALEX GALLARDO I The Associated Press Abraham Ancer hits from the third tee during the final round of The American Express golf tournament on the Stadium Course at PGA West on Jan. 19 in La Quinta, Calif. Abraham Ancer knows all about altitude, and not just the thin air at Chapultepec Golf Club where he returns to the Mexico Champion ship under entirely different circumstances. He played in this World Golf Championship the last two years because of a pro vision in the criteria that a spot be reserved for the highest-ranked Mexican player. Now his game and his confidence are soaring. Ancer earned a place in the elite field this year from having reached the FedEx Cup finale, rising to No. 29 in the world and feeling as though better days are still to come. And it all started a year ago on the first tee at Chapultepec when he was paired with Tiger Woods. “I’m always nervous in this event. I always just want to perform so well in this tournament,” he said Wednesday. “You add Tiger to the equation, it was really a big thing for me. But it helped me a lot. At the moment, I didn’t realize how much it was going to help me.” He found calm in situa tions that once left him on edge. That carried him to a runner-up finish in the FedEx Cup playoffs opener, to a Presidents Cup debut in which he led the Inter national team in points and gave Woods all he could handle in a singles match, and to his closing 63 in the California desert last month for another runner-up finish. The timing couldn’t have been better for Mexico. The PGA Tour decided last summer to update the criteria for the Mexico Championship. If a Mexican player earned his way into the field, another Mexican could play provided he was among the top 300 in the world. That turned out to be Car los Ortiz, who could only watch from outside the ropes the last few years. Both were on the develop mental Korn Ferry Tour the first year of the Mexico Championship. “Today golf in Mexico is stronger than ever,” said Benjamin Salinas, head of Television Azteca and part of the Grupo Salinas that sponsors the event. “We have two Mexican players among the best in the world competing together for the first time in this type of tour nament. All Mexico is sup porting you this week. ” More pressure for Ancer. He’s getting used to this. Jon Rahm can appreci ate what he’s going through, having returned home to Spain for the Spanish Open and winning it each of the last two years. It’s a little dif ferent for Rahm because he already is a nine-time win ner and has another chance this week to reach No. 1 in the world. “It’s a very unique feeling when you feel the better part of a country or the following that week supporting just one or two players,” Rahm said. “They’re proud to have you there perform and you should be proud to be there performing for them. A lot of times when you have that behind you, it’s like an extra motivator that helps you do better. “It’s also at the same time hard to control the willing ness or the want to do good for yourself and for them,” he said. “At the end of the day, you’re playing for your self, and by playing good for yourself you’re going to entertain them.” Ancer won’t have to worry about additional attention with Woods, who chose not to play this year. Also missing from the top 10 are Brooks Koepka and Patrick Cantlay, who faces elective surgery for a devi ated septum. Ancer plays with defend ing champion Dustin John son and Francesco Molinari. Ortiz will be playing with Rahm and Adam Scott, the winner last week at Riviera. Ortiz is among eight play ers in a World Golf Champi onship for the first time. This is a different test, playing at roughly 7,500 feet altitude, meaning players have been spending more time than usual on the range trying to figure out how far the golf ball is flying. Johnson won in 2017 and 2019 and is trying to end a full year without winning, his longest drought in more than four years. Rory Mcllroy has a chance to join Johnson as the only players to win all four WGCs. There’s a lot at stake this week, including the No. 1 ranking between Mcllroy and Rahm. Ancer will be feeling his own pressure. He already has come a long way from Odessa Junior College in Texas, per forming well enough to get the attention of Oklahoma, and then plodding along through the developmental tours to reach No. 29 in the world. “It’s been that way my whole life,” Ancer said. Transactions Major League Baseball Commisioner of Baseball — Suspended IF Pablo Reyes for 80 games after testing positive for performance-enhancing susbstance. BALTIMORE ORIOLES — “ Claimed INF Andrew Velazquez off waivers from the Cleveland Indians and designated INF Richard Urena (ur-AY-nyuh) for assignment. BOSTON RED SOX — Agreed to terms with C Jonathon Lucroy on a minot league contract. MILWAUKEE BREWERS — Agreed to terms with INF-0F Brock Holt on a one-year contract. Designated RHP Taylor Williams for assignment. FOOTBALL Canadian Football League EDMONTON ESKIMOS — Signed free agent American OL Justin Renfrow. National Football League HOUSTON TEXANS — Signed DT Brandon Dunn to a contract extension. TENNESSEE TITANS — Agreed to a one-year extension with WR Cameron Batson. WASHINGTON REDSKINS — Exercised their 2020 option on RB Adrian Peterson. HOCKEY National Hockey League PHILADELPHIA FLYERS — Reassigned F Pascal Laberge from Lehigh Valley (AHL) to Reading (ECHL). SOCCER Major League Soccer COLUMBUS CREW — Announced that the club has acquired goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell (pronounced: TAR-bell) via a trade with the San Jose Earthquakes in exchange for $75,000 in 2020 General Allocation Money (GAM). Baseball/MLB AMERICAN LEAGUE NEW YORK (AP) — The 33 remaining free agents: BALTIMORE (1) — Mark Trumbo, dh-of-1b. BOSTON (3) — Andrew Cashner, rhp; Brock Holt, inf-of; Steve Pearce, 1 b-of. CLEVELAND (2) — Ryan Flaherty, inf; Yasiel Puig, of. DETROIT (1) — Gordon Beckham, 2b. HOUSTON (1) — Collin McHugh, rhp. NEW YORK (1) — CC Sabathia, Ihp. SEATTLE (1) — Arodys Vizcaino, rhp. TEXAS (2) — Welington Castillo, c; Shawn Kelley, rhp. TORONTO (1) — Clay Buchholz, rhp. NATIONAL LEAGUE ATLANTA (1) — Brian McCann, c. CHICAGO (4) — Tony Barnette, rhp; Xavier Cedeno, Ihp; Jonathan Lucroy c; Ben Zobrist, inf-of. LOS ANGELES (2) — David Freese, 3b; Russell Martin, c. MIAMI (2) — Curtis Granderson, of; Martin Prado, 1 b-3b. MILWAUKEE (1) — Matt Albers, rhp. NEW YORK (1) — Juan Lagares, of. PHILADELPHIA (2) — Pat Neshek, rhp; Jason Vargas, Ihp. PITTSBURGH (2) — Melky Cabrera, of; Lonnie Chisenhall, of. ST. LOUIS (1) — Tony Cingrani, Ihp. WASHINGTON (4) — Brian Dozier, 2b; Jeremy Hellickson, rhp; Fernando Rodney, rhp; Jonny Venters, Ihp. Basketball/college Men’s Top 25 Wednesday’s results 1. Baylor (24-1) did not play. Next: vs. No. 3 Kansas, Saturday. 2. Gonzaga (26-1) did not play. Next: vs. San Francisco, Thursday. 3. Kansas (23-3) did not play. Next: at No. 1 Baylor, Saturday. 4. San Diego State (26-0) did not play. Next: vs. UNLV, Saturday. 5. Dayton (24-2) did not play. Next: vs. Duquesne, Saturday. 6. Duke (22-3) at N.C. State. Next: vs. Virginia Tech, Saturday. 7. Maryland (22-4) did not play. Next: at No. 25 Ohio State, Sunday. 8. Florida State (22-4) did not play. Next: at N.C. State, Saturday. 9. Penn State (20-6) did not play. Next: at Indiana, Sunday. 10. Kentucky (21-5) did not play. Next: vs. Florida, Saturday. 11. Louisville (22-5) beat Syracuse 90-66. Next: vs. North Carolina, Saturday. 12. Villanova (19-6) at DePaul. Next: at Xavier, Saturday. 13. Auburn (22-4) lost Georgia 65-55. Next: vs. Tennessee, Saturday. 14. Oregon (20-6) did not play. Next: at Arizona State, Thursday. 15. Creighton (21-6) did not play. Next: vs. No. 21 Butler, Sunday. 16. Seton Hall (19-7) beat No. 21 Butler 74-72. Next: vs. St. John’s, Sunday. 17. West Virginia (19-7) did not play. Next: at TCU, Saturday. 18. Colorado (20-6) did not play. Next: vs. Southern Cal, Thursday. 19. Marquette (17-8) did not play. Next: at Providence, Saturday. 20. Iowa (18-8) did not play. Next: vs. No. 25 Ohio State, Thursday. 21. Butler (19-8) lost to No. 16 Seton Hall 74-72. Next: at No. 15 Creighton, Sunday. 22. Houston (20-6) vs. Tulsa. Next: at Memphis, Saturday. 23. BYU (21-7) did not play. Next: vs. Santa Clara, Thursday. 24. Arizona (18-7) did not play. Next: vs. Oregon State, Thursday. 25. Ohio State (17-8) did not play. Next: at No. 20 Iowa, Thursday. Major scores EAST American U. 71, Navy 62 Lafayette 61, Boston U. 59 Loyola (Md.) 81, Army 77 Michigan 60, Rutgers 52 Seton Hall 74, Butler 72 Siena 65, Iona 64 SOUTH Chattanooga 91, The Citadel 68 ETSU 75, Furman 66 Georgia 65, Auburn 55 Georgia Tech 86, Wake Forest 79 Louisville 90, Syracuse 66 Memphis 77, East Carolina 73 Mercer 106, Samford 66 Nicholls 73, Northwestern St. 69 Richmond 65, George Mason 50 Texas A&M 74, Alabama 68 VMI 74, W. Carolina 71 SOUTHWEST Lamar 77, Sam Houston St. 65 Top 25 schedule Today’s games No. 16 Colorado at No. 17 Oregon, 9 p.m. No. 21 Iowa at Indiana, 8 p.m. Friday’s Games No games scheduled Basketball/NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division W L Pet GB Toronto 40 15 .727 — Boston 38 16 .704 1 1 /2 Philadelphia 34 21 .618 6 Brooklyn 25 28 .472 14 New York 17 38 .309 23 Southeast Division W L Pet GB Miami 35 19 .648 — Orlando 24 31 .436 11 1 /2 Washington 20 33 .377 14 1 /2 Charlotte 18 36 .333 17 Atlanta 15 41 .268 21 Central Division W L Pet GB Milwaukee 46 8 .852 — Indiana 32 23 .582 14 1 /2 Chicago 19 36 .345 27 1 / z Detroit 19 38 .333 28 1 / 2 Cleveland 14 40 .259 32 WESTERN CONFERENCE Southwest Division W L Pet GB Houston 34 20 .630 — Dallas 33 22 .600 1 1 /2 Memphis 28 26 .519 6 San Antonio 23 31 .426 11 New Orleans 23 32 .418 11 1 /2 Northwest Division W L Pet GB Denver 38 17 .691 — Utah 36 18 .667 1 1 /2 Oklahoma City 33 22 .600 5 Portland 25 31 .446 13 1 / 2 Minnesota 16 37 .302 21 Pacific Division W L Pet GB L.A. Lakers 41 12 .774 — L.A. Clippers 37 18 .673 5 Phoenix 22 33 .400 20 Sacramento 21 33 .389 20 1 / 2 Golden State 12 43 .218 30 Today’s Games Milwaukee at Detroit, 7 p.m. Miami at Atlanta, 7:30 p.m. Brooklyn at Philadelphia, 8 p.m. Charlotte at Chicago, 8 p.m. Memphis at Sacramento, 10 p.m. Houston at Golden State, 10:30 p.m. Friday’s Games Cleveland at Washington, 7 p.m. Dallas at Orlando, 7 p.m. Indiana at New York, 7:30 p.m. Phoenix at Toronto, 7:30 p.m. Boston at Minnesota, 8 p.m. Denver at Oklahoma City, 8 p.m. San Antonio at Utah, 9 p.m. Memphis at L.A. Lakers, 10:30 p.m. New Orleans at Portland, 10:30 p.m. TODAY ON TV GOLF BASKETBALL PGA Tour Golf: Puerto Rico Open, 10:30 a.m., Golf Channel PGA Tour Golf: WGC Mexico Championship, 2 p.m., Golf Channel ■ Ohio State at Iowa, 7 p.m., ESPN ■ Connecticut at Temple, 7 p.m., ESPN2 ■ Vermont at Stony Brook, 7 p.m., ESPNU ■ Nets at 76ers, 8 p.m., TNT ■ Michigan State at Nebraska, 8:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1 ■ Oregon at Arizona State, 9 p.m., ESPN ■ Southern California at Colorado, 9 p.m., ESPN2 ■ North Carolina (Asheville) at Radford, 9 p.m., ESPNU ■ UCLA at Utah, 10:30 p.m., Fox Sports 1 ■ Rockets at Warriors, 10:30 p.m., TNT ■ San Francisco at Gonzaga, 11 p.m., ESPN2 ■ Hawaii at UC (Riverside), 11 p.m., ESPNU Georgia upsets Auburn JOHN AMIS I The Associated Press Georgia guard Anthony Edwards (5) celebrates with forward Mike Peake after beating Auburn on Wednesday in Athens. Edwards gave Bulldogs boost with 18 points Associated Press Bruce Pearl looked ahead to the postsea son when he attempted to place perspective on No. 13 Auburn’s loss to a Georgia team on the doorstep of last place in the SEC. Georgia coach Tom Crean also looked ahead — to next season and beyond — as he celebrated a win that he hopes gives momen tum to his efforts to rebuild the program. Anthony Edwards scored 18 points, including a late 3-pointer to slow Auburn’s comeback attempt, and the Bulldogs beat the Tigers 65-55 on Wednesday night. Auburn (22-4, 9-4 Southeastern Confer ence) suffered its second straight loss to a team with a losing record following seven straight wins. The loss damaged Auburn’s hopes of catching No. 10 Kentucky, which leads the SEC. Pearl also knows losing by double digits at Georgia won’t look good when the NCAA Tournament selection committee assigns seeds. He bemoaned missed late opportuni ties which would have made the final score look better. Auburn’s winning streak ended with Satur day’s 85-73 loss at Missouri, another team in the bottom half of the SEC standings. Each loss came without freshman forward Isaac Okoro, who missed his second straight game with a hamstring injury. Another freshman, Allen Flanigan, replaced Okoro in the lineup and scored only three points. Georgia led 55-50 when Edwards’ 3-pointer with 2:15 remaining stretched the advantage to eight points. J’Von McCormick led Auburn with 22 points. Samir Doughty, who had 15 points, cut Georgia’s lead to 58-53 with a three-point play with 1:02 remaining. Toumani Camara sank seven of eight free throws in the final 1:01 to help protect the Bulldogs’ lead. It was a rare highlight for Georgia (13-13, 3-10), which had lost eight of nine, including four straight and leads only Vanderbilt in the SEC. “The win is awesome, there’s no question about it,” Crean said. “The bottom line is that we’re building a program. We are going through growing pains and hard days .. but you don’t get a program built if you lose momentum with your fans. They are staying with us, and I’m so thankful for that.” Following the win, Edwards unleashed a yell and ran to celebrate with the student section. “I told them we can win some games if you stick with us,” said Edwards, who leads the nation’s freshmen with his average of 19 points. With Georgia leading 21-14, Crean gave Edwards and other starters a break with 8:33 remaining, The Tigers immediately launched a 9-0 run — with all the scoring coming from McCormick. McCormick’s scoring spree gave Auburn a 23-22 advantage. The run ended on Anfernee McLemore’s turnover on an offensive foul. With Edwards and other starters back on the court, the Bulldogs took advantage of the turnover to start their own 9-0 run, including seven points from Sahvir Wheeler, who had 13 points. Rayshaun Hammonds also had 13 points and Camara had 12 — including 10 on free throws — in Georgia’s second win over a top 15 team. The Bulldogs beat No. 9 Memphis 65-62 on Jan. 4. Georgia Tech takes care of Wake Forest 86-79 Associated Press Michael Devoe scored 24 points and backcourt mate Jose Alvarado added 22 to lead Georgia Tech to an 86-79 road victory over Wake Forest on Wednesday night. Devoe, who missed the final three minutes of the opening round after tweak ing his knee, scored 16 in the second half as the Yel low Jackets (13-13, 7-8 ACC) rebounded after squander ing a 13-point first-half lead. Brandon Childress and freshman reserve Jahcobi Neath each scored 16 to lead the Demon Deacons (11-15, 4-12), who are a half-game ahead of last-place North Carolina. Devoe and Alvarado were effective driving to the bas ket, resulting in several Tech dunks and layups. Moses Wright added 14 points and Jordan Usher had 10 for the Jackets. Chaundee Brown scored 13 for Wake, and Olivier Sarr and Ismael Massoud had 11 apiece. Both teams were effective getting high- percentage shots. Tech shot 52% to Wake’s 49%. Tech scored nine straight points en route to a 16-3 run to race out to a 13-point lead late in the first half. But Wake used a 7-2 run to pull within 37-29 at halftime. The Deacons reeled off nine straight points to start the second half and grab the lead. But a pair of dunks by Evan Cole and another by Moses Wright helped the Jackets take a 46-40 lead with 14:06 left. Wake tied the game four times down the stretch. But Devoe was dominant in the final minutes. His driving scoop shot with 2:46 left gave Tech a 74-69 lead. A dunk by Cole expanded the lead to six with 2:09 to play. The Deacons made one final run when Isaiah Mucius drilled a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 78-74 with 55 seconds left. Leading 81-75, the Jackets sealed the vic tory with Cole’s steal with 32 seconds to play. Before the game, Wake Forest added a banner bear ing the likeness of former coach Dave Odom to the raf ters at Joel Coliseum. Odom, who coached at the school from 1989-2001, guided Tim Duncan and the Deacons to back-to-back ACC Tour nament titles in 1995 and 1996. The late Skip Prosser is the only other Wake coach accorded the honor. Alvarado scored 13 points in the first half as Tech took a 37-29 lead into intermission. After a slow start by both teams, the Jackets broke away from a tie at 17 with a 16-3 run triggered by nine straight points and extended the lead to as much as 13 points. FRIED ■ Continued from 1B Coming into the offseason, that’s something I wanted to improve on. I definitely worked really hard with that.” Since his debut in August 2017, Fried has given plenty reason to reassess his ceiling. Already a well-regarded arm, he’s bolstered his fast ball command, added a potent slider and, according to himself and teammates, made his change-up a more worthy tool. All while keep ing his signature curve. “He’s working on get ting his change-up more consistent, the action of it,” catcher Tyler Flowers said. “It could be a really nice weapon for him in addition to three other weapons he has. That could really make him something real special or even elite.” Fried had a 4.02 ERA across 33 games (30 starts) last season, striking out 173 against 47 walks. He logged 165-% innings after pitch ing 59-% across the past two campaigns. He was the team’s best bullpen weapon in the postseason, allowing no runs in his first three appearances (2-% innings) before running out of gas in the Braves’ disastrous Game 5 defeat. Like the rest of the club, Fried put those demons behind him. He preaches about returning to the post season and winning on that stage. His part in the mis sion, to quote Bill Belichick: Do your job. “I’m fine-tuning my game, getting more consistent,” Fried said. “There were some times when I felt like some outings got out of my hands. As long as I control what I can control, and keep it as consistent as possible, I think that’ll do well, espe cially across the course of a season. “You learn a lot in your first full season of ups and downs. Just getting in the hang of things. For me, con fidence is still there. I’m excited to get going.” That confidence, topped by the strides he made a year ago and trio of surgical playoff showings, has team mates giddy for what’s com ing. Their freely spoken, heightened expectations suggest another leap could be on the horizon. At the Chop Fest fan event last month, Freddie Free man declared Fried would be “phenomenal, better than last year.” Soroka feels Fried will be “nasty, nastier than ever.” The southpaw earns such respect because he’s proved to add more to his game every year. For many pitchers, it’s a ques tion of physical ability, mental processing or ‘stuff.’ Fried has shown develop ment in each area.
