Ospreys Oust Owls, 81-72

Saturday, January 12

Jacksonville, Fla.

4:30 pm

University of North Florida

8-11, 3-3ASUN

Kennesaw State

2-15, 1-4ASUN

Kennesaw State

North Florida

Photo by: Todd Drexler

1/12/2013 8:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Boxscore (pdf)
Game Book

JACKSONVILLE -- Parker Smith and Travis Wallace bounced back to combine for 58 points and lead the North Florida basketball team to a decisive 81-72 victory Saturday over Kennesaw State at UNF Arena.

The win snaps a two-game skid for the Ospreys (8-11, 3-3 ASun) and extends their current win streak to seven games against the Owls (2-15, 1-4).

UNF's top scoring tandem, that was limited to just 14 combined points on Thursday against Mercer, got going early and often as Smith made eight three-pointers on his way to a game high 32 points and Wallace continued his solid play versus KSU finishing with 26 points. Wallace averaged 28 points a game against the Owls last season.

Freshman Beau Beech nearly added a double-double for UNF scoring 10 points and hauling down eight rebounds including five on the offensive end. Will Wilson handed out 11 assists marking his fourth double-figure performance of the year.

Kennesaw State was led by 28 points from Markeith Cummings.

"This was another tremendous team effort," said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll. "We did a good job of getting stops on the defensive end which allowed us to get into a better flow offensively. We were able to create turnovers and turn them into some easy baskets. The guys continue to get each other good shot opportunities and we converted those chances. I was really proud of how we competed especially after falling behind. The guys stayed with it and kept competing and were able to battle back and take control. I was also glad to see guys come off the bench and give us a lift in a variety of ways."

The Ospreys scored the first five points and never trailed in the opening 20 minutes of play. UNF maintained a slim margin of no more than five points for much of the half as Kennesaw refused to go away forcing a tie three times. A closing 12-6 spurt allowed North Florida to carry a 38-32 advantage into the halftime break.

KSU shot 56 percent from the floor in the opening period but 14 turnovers leading to 16 points for the Ospreys proved a major difference. UNF connected at a 48 percent clip getting nine assists from Wilson on 15 baskets.

The Owls opened the second half with a 16-8 surge to grab their first lead of the game, 48-46, with 15:23 left to play. Kennesaw would push their lead to four points minutes later, but UNF answered with a 13-0 spurt highlighted by three treys from Smith and capped by another by Beech to regain the momentum.

KSU would get no closer than six points the rest of the way as the Ospreys limited the Owls to just 41 percent shooting in the second half to secure the win.

For the game, UNF turned 19 turnovers into 23 points and also collected 13 second chance points. The Ospreys shot 52 percent from the floor and 48 percent from beyond the arc (11-of-23).

North Florida will now have almost a week off from competition before returning to action Friday against crosstown rival Jacksonville in the season's first installment of the SunTrust River City Rumble competition. The UNF-JU game is slated to tip at 7 p.m. at UNF Arena.