Ospreys Top Hatters, 90-74

Saturday, January 5

DeLand, Fla.

3:15 pm

University of North Florida

-79, 21 ASun

Stetson

-410, 12 ASun

North Florida

Stetson

Photo by: Todd Drexler

1/5/2013 5:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Boxscore (pdf)
Game Book

DeLAND, Fla. --Bolstered by 33 points from Parker Smith and 23 by Travis Wallace, the North Florida basketball team raced to season high point total in a 90-74 victory over Stetson on Saturday afternoon at the Edmunds Center.

The Ospreys (7-9, 2-1 Atlantic Sun) shot 63 percent from the floor and recorded 25 assists on 35 baskets in a complete offensive showing. Smith connected on nine three-pointers, including seven in the first half, while Wallace scored 13 of his points in the closing half.

Adam Pegg finished with 19 points, 17 in the second half, to pace a quartet of Hatters (4-10, 1-2) in double digits.

Along with Smith and Wallace, UNF also got double-figure performances from Andy Diaz (12) and Beau Beech (11). Senior Will Wilson matched a school record and career high with 12 assists in the contest. As a team, North Florida drilled 13 three-pointers.

"This was another great team effort," said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll, who has now guided the team to 16 ASun road wins in his tenure. "I give credit to our guys for being able to move forward in the season after a tough loss at home. I thought we executed on the offensive end and played the zone on defense as well as we have this season. We are really good when we get stops on defense and can manage the tempo. I thought Andy (Diaz) gave us a big lift on both ends."

The game opened in a break neck pace as the two teams traded baskets to an early 12-12 tie. The Hatters would build a five-point lead midway through the period but UNF battled back to again tie things up at 24. From there, North Florida used a 23-7 surge highlighted by several Smith treys and capped by a running layup for Wilson at the buzzer. UNF led 47-31 at the half, marking the team's largest halftime advantage of the season.

Back-to-back treys from Smith and Beech got things started quickly for the Ospreys in the second half. UNF would lead by as many as 23 points in the period and never allowed the Hatters to pull closer than 14 en route to victory.

North Florida concludes its brief conference road swing with a visit to Florida Gulf Coast on Monday at 7:30 p.m.