Basketball Falls 75-62 at Miami

Saturday, November 19

Miami, Fla.

7 pm

University of North Florida

1-3

Miami

3-0

UNF

Miami

Photo by: Sideline Sports/UNF Athletics

11/19/2011 9:41:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Final Boxscore (pdf)
Game Book

MIAMI – The North Florida basketball team mounted a second half rally but was unable to overtake Miami in a hard fought 75-62 loss Saturday night at the Bank United Center.

UNF (1-3) trimmed an 18-point second half deficit to just six points with 3:10 left to play before Miami (3-0) made 9-of-10 free throw attempts to stave off the Ospreys comeback bid.

Travis Wallace scored 14 of his team-high 16 points in the second half to spark the UNF charge. Andy Diaz, a Miami native, added 13 points for the Ospreys with the duo combining for 11 offensive rebounds. Diaz narrowly missed a double-double finishing with nine boards while Wallace pulled down seven.

Jerron Granberry, another Miami native on the UNF roster, kept the Ospreys going in the first half scoring 12 points on 4-for-6 shooting from the three-point line. Granberry returned to the lineup after missing Thursday night's Florida game with a sore ankle.

Garrius Adams led the way for the Hurricanes scoring 14 points and Kenny Kadji was the game's top rebounder with 10 on the night.

“We don't play for moral victories and we expected to come in here and win this game,” said third-year UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll. “Give Miami credit because they had a couple guys hit some big shots. I was proud of the effort and fight our guys showed tonight, but we have to continue improving. I thought our run in the second half was the result of our defense and our ability to string some defensive stops together. I was glad that Andy and Jerron played well and had the opportunity to play at home in front of family and friends.”

Quick out of the gates, North Florida grabbed the early 8-4 lead following baskets from Wallace and Fred Landers. Miami answered with a 12-2 run to move in front by six, 16-10, with just over 12 minutes left in the period.

Granberry cut the UNF deficit to three, 18-15, with his second trey of the half but the Ospreys then went scoreless for over four minutes as Miami built an eight-point margin, 23-15.

The Ospreys regrouped and trimmed the Canes' lead to four twice in the closing minutes as Granberry continued his hot shooting with two more three-pointers. Miami held off the late UNF charge owning a 31-25 lead at the half.

The Hurricanes built their largest lead of the game, 50-32, after opening the second half on a 19-7 run. UNF fought back using a 12-2 run of its own to trim the UM lead to eight, 52-44. Wallace closed the Osprey spurt scoring seven straight points.

Miami would score the next eight points before Parker Smith drilled a three-pointer that sparked a 13-6 run for North Florida. Smith's second trey of the night capped the surge and pulled the Ospreys to within six, 66-60, with just over three minutes left.

UNF held the Hurricanes scoreless from the floor over the final six minutes of the game but Miami was solid from the free throw line and closed the game on a 9-2 run.

For the game, UNF outrebounded the Canes 37-35 including an 18-15 edge on the offensive end. The Ospreys also had more assists (14) than turnovers (13). North Florida's eight three-pointers against the Hurricanes matched its three-point total for the previous three games.

North Florida concludes its current three-game road swing Monday at #3 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.