#17 Memphis Tops Ospreys in Road Opener

Monday, November 12

Memphis, Tenn.

6:30 pm (CT)

University of North Florida

1-1

#17 Memphis (CSS-TV)

1-0

North Florida

#17 Memphis

Photo by: Sideline Sports/UNF Athletics

11/12/2012 10:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Boxscore (pdf)
Game Book

MEMPHIS -- A scoring run by No. 17 Memphis midway through the first half proved the difference in the game as the North Florida basketball team dropped an 81-66 decision in its road debut Monday night at the FedEx Forum.

The Ospreys (1-1) held a 20-17 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half before the Tigers (1-0) closed the period on a 30-5 run started up by a stretch of 19 straight points to gain control of the contest.

Senior Jerron Granberry led the way for UNF scoring 17 points including 13 in the second half. Parker Smith added 12 and Charles McRoy finished with 10. Point guard Will Wilson led the Ospreys with a career-best nine rebounds and also handed out a team-best five assists.

Tarik Black finished with 18 points leading a trio of Tigers in double digits.

“We did a great job executing our game plan at start of the game,” said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll. “Memphis then took the game to another level and we didn't respond allowing the game to get away from us. I was proud of how we continued to battle and make a late charge but we don't play these games for moral victories, we want real victories. We need to quickly get back to work and learn to play better for 40 minutes. We are going to make improvements.”

Smith led the Ospreys to an early advantage scoring nine of the team's first 20 points with a trio of three-pointers. UNF held a lead for most of the first nine minutes of play. At that point, North Florida went scoreless for over five minutes of play as Memphis used a 19-0 run to build a 36-20 lead. The Tigers closed the half scoring the final nine points to post a 47-25 halftime lead.

The Tigers continued their strong offensive play early in the second half pushing their advantage to 30 points with a 10-2 spurt over the first four minutes of action. A dunk by Damien Wilson with 13:58 remaining in the game gave Memphis their largest lead of the game, 66-34.

UNF refused to give up with the Ospreys continuing to chip into the deficit. Four straight points from Charles McRoy with four minutes left pulled UNF within 20 and a Granberry trey at the 2:29 mark trimmed the Tiger advantage to 16 points, 79-63. Another triple for Granberry with a minute left was the final basket of the game making the final margin 15.

North Florida makes a quick turnaround on their current road swing as the Ospreys play at Savannah State on Wednesday night. The game will be the second straight UNF opponent that reached the NCAA Tournament last season.