University of North Florida
#22 Texas (Fox Sports Southwest)
UNF Struggles at #22 Texas, 70-48
12/14/2010 10:52:06 PM | Men's Basketball
Final Boxscore
AUSTIN, Texas -- Despite limiting 22nd-ranked Texas to 35 percent shooting, the University of North Florida men's basketball team struggled themselves on the offensive end in a tough 70-48 loss Tuesday night at the Frank Erwin Center.
UNF (4-6) shot just 28 percent for the game, committed 18 turnovers and were out-rebounded 51-34 by a strong, athletic Longhorns (8-2) squad.
Sophomore Jerron Granberry and freshman Brian Holmes both scored 10 points to pace the Ospreys. Holmes, who matched a career high with his performance, scored all his points in the second half including the final eight of the game for UNF.
Cory Joseph finished with 18 points to lead the Longhorns while Gary Johnson added a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double performance.
“We didn't play well tonight and that is a little disappointing,” said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll, who celebrated his birthday Tuesday. “We are close to being a very good team if we can just iron out the little things that have been holding us back. Against top quality teams like Texas we have a small margin for error and tonight we committed way too many unforced errors. We have to be better than that and we just have to grow and learn.”
Both teams struggled to score through the opening minutes, but a 16-1 run by Texas over a seven minute span allowed the Longhorns to gain control of the momentum, 19-5. The Ospreys continued to battle cutting the lead to just nine, 22-13, following a three-pointer by Parker Smith with 6:11 left in the first period.
Texas held a 35-16 halftime lead after closing the half on a 13-3 surge. The 16 points marked a season low total in a half for North Florida.
The Longhorns extended their advantage to more than 20 points early in the second half and UNF would get no closer than 18 the remainder of the contest. The Ospreys did make a final charge scoring 10 of the final 13 points to trim the final margin.
North Florida will get a brief break from the road with a pair of home games before the Christmas Holiday. UNF hosts Furman on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the team's only non-conference regular season home contest before welcoming Palm Beach Atlantic for an exhibition tilt Monday, Dec. 20 at Noon.
