UNF hangs with Clemson early

Tuesday, December 16

Clemson, S.C.

7 p.m.

University of North Florida

0-8

Clemson

11-0

North Florida

Clemson

DeVon Jones saw his first action of the season Tuesday.

12/16/2008 10:23:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Nine different Ospreys tally points against ACC foe

By: Shawn LaFata

Box Score

South Carolina Blog

CLEMSON, S.C. – The University of North Florida men's basketball team hung with the top-ranked team in the latest RPI rankings early, but couldn't keep the pace up in a 76-36 loss to Clemson at LittleJohn Arena.

Clemson (11-0) came into the game as the 25^th-ranked team in the country and held onto the top spot as far as RPI was concerned. The Tigers got a scare early from the Ospreys (0-8), which played with Clemson for the first 15 minutes. It took a big run in the opening half and a 13-1 run to start the second half for the Tigers to finally start to pull away.

"We came in with a good game plan, but we started playing too fast toward the end of the first half," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "Clemson gained a lot of confidence going into the second half and it was a different game."

Kyle Groothuis led the Ospreys with nine points, scoring eight of those in the opening half of play to go along with seven rebounds.

Three Tigers scored in double figures, led by Trevor Booker's 16 points. He also added a game-high 10 rebounds to his totals to finish the contest with a double-double.

The Ospreys put forth a strong beginning, breaking Clemson's press and fending off two early 3-point plays by the Tigers to keep the game tied 10-10 at the 15-minute mark of the opening half. Both Cortez Riley and Groothuis had four points for the Ospreys with Groothuis getting two easy baskets underneath.

The Ospreys took a 13-12 lead on a DeVon Jones free throw and a Germaine Sparkes drive to the lane. The Tigers took the lead back, however, when Booker nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key for his seventh point of the game. UNF continued to hang, not letting Clemson out of its site and tying the game 17-17 on a Jones layup.

The Tigers countered with a 7-0 run to take a 24-17 advantage that Groothuis broke with a layup after Eni Cuka drove the lane, drew a double team and kicked a pass off to the UNF sophomore.

The Tigers held a 37-22 lead at the break, closing the half on a 20-5 run. Booker led Clemson with 11 points, while Groothuis had eight points for the Ospreys, hitting 4-of-5 shots from the field and pulling down a team-high five rebounds.

Groothuis finished the game with eight rebounds overall. The Tigers outrebounded UNF 45-37 with each team pulling down 16 offensive boards.

Clemson finally took full control of he game in the second half of play, scoring 13 of the half's first 14 points before Jordan Fair finally broke the run with UNF's first field goal of the half at the 13 minute mark. Fair's 3-pointer made it a 50-26 contest.

Nine different Ospreys scored in the game, with Jones and Cuka – each seeing their first action of the year – scoring six points.

UNF shot 25.9 percent from the field, compared to Clemson's 45.3 percent. The Ospreys turned the ball over 22 times, with Clemson finishing the game with 16 steals. The Tigers had 11 blocks and 11 turnovers.

UNF rounds out its two-game road trip through South Carolina on Thursday when it takes on Furman at 7 p.m.