University of North Florida
Furman
South Carolina trip concludes at Furman
12/17/2008 6:24:44 PM | Men's Basketball
UNF tips off with the Paladins at 7 p.m.
Game Notes
South Carolina Blog
The
UNF (0-8) began its trip at Clemson, suffering a 76-36 defeat against the No. 25 ranked team in the country and the top-rated team in the RPI rankings. The Ospreys hung with Clemson early, but watched the Tigers turn a 17-17 game into a new contest by closing the opening half on a 22-5 run.
The Ospreys gained some much-needed support this week with the return of DeVon Jones from a leg injury and Eni Cuka's debut after having to sit out the fall semester after transferring from Florida Atlantic. Both players scored six points off the bench for the Ospreys.
Furman (1-6) comes into the contest after a two-week layoff for final exams. The Paladins opened their season with a win against Emory, but have not captured a victory in their last six outings.
When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
Where: Timmons Arena (
On the Air: SportsJuice (Coverage begins at 6:45)
UNF's Record: 0-8
Furman's Record: 1-6
Series: First Meeting
Who's Hot: Senior point guard Cortez Riley led the Ospreys with 16 points against Savannah State, 12 points against Rice and scored a career-high 21 points in outings against Charleston Southern and Lipscomb ... Riley averaged better than 15 points in his last three outings before the trip to Clemson ... Kyle Groothuis scored a season-high 11 points against Belmont before leading the team with nine points against Clemson, hitting 4-of-5 shots from the field ... UNF pulled down 16 offensive rebounds against Clemson.
Gameday Notables: A win would give the Ospreys their first-ever win against Furman in their first meeting with the Paladins, give UNF a split on its two-game road trip to South Carolina and give the team its first win of the year … Devon Jones will be back in the lineup this week after missing the first seven games of the season with a leg injury … Jones, a sophomore, started 23 games last year as a freshman, finishing tied for second on the team with 4.4 rebounds per contest … Jones had a career-high three steals in his first game of the year against Clemson and that performance could earn him a start against Furman.
Quoting coach Kilcullen
