Kentucky faces one of the SEC's most underrated players (plus Shaq's daughter) vs. Florida

Kentucky women’s basketball takes on Florida on Thursday, and the Gators have struggled to stack momentum, sitting at 12-7 (0-4 SEC) with losses to Navy and Tulsa. Especially at home, this is a team that Kentucky should beat, but like most SEC teams, they have a couple of players in particular who are true stars.

Florida is led by sophomore guard Liv McGill, who ranks sixth in the nation in points per game (23.4). McGill does a great job of loading the stat sheet, averaging 5.5 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 3.2 steals per game.

She has scored in double figures in all of Florida’s game this season, and she has recorded 25+ points in nine games and 30+ points in four games. Against Chattanooga, she had an insane stat line of 38 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds and seven steals. McGill had 32 points in a loss at Tennessee on New Year’s Day. Against Kentucky last season, she had 10 points, four rebounds and two assists.

On Wednesday, Kentucky point guard Tonie Morgan talked about what challenges Florida and a player like McGill present.

“They’re super physical team, like any other team,” Morgan noted. “They have a really good guard, Liv McGill, but we’re ready. We’re prepared. We just got to come fight, bring that same energy that we did against Oklahoma and just be ready for the next battle.”

“She’s a great guard,” Morgan said of McGill. “She gets downhill, shoots the three, three-level scorer, aggressive, and they run a lot of plays for her, so we have to be ready to guard her, whether that be me, Millie, anybody. Just gotta be ready to guard her.”

However, there’s also Me’Arah “Meezy” O’Neal, and if that last name rings a bell, that’s because it should. Me’Arah is one of Shaquille O’Neal’s daughters. Another interesting note about Me’Arah is that she is listed as a guard, but she’s 6-foot-4. That’s bigger than some teams’ centers.

O’Neal is Florida’s second-leading scorer, putting up 13.4 points per game on 51.2% shooting from the field. While she’s not exactly a deadeye three-point shooter, she can step out on the perimeter and hit a three if open, making 27.5% of her shots from deep. O’Neal also averages a team-high 7.4 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game.

Kentucky should beat Florida on Thursday, but Florida has some talent and could give Kentucky some trouble if they come out flat.

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