#MBB Falls 89-68 in Fast Paced Game at Indiana

Saturday, December 7

Bloomington, Ind.

7:30 pm

University of North Florida

5-6

Indiana

7-2

North Florida

Indiana

Photo courtesy: Joe Eke

12/7/2013 10:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Photo courtesy: Joe Eke

Final Boxscore (pdf)
Game Book

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Freshman Dallas Moore's career best 27 point effort was not enough to overcome a fast-paced No. 23-ranked Indiana team Saturday night as North Florida dropped a 89-68 decision at historic Assembly Hall.

Moore, who led all scorers in the contest, poured in 15 points for the Ospreys (5-6) in an opening half that was closely contested until a late surge by the Hoosiers (7-2). Moore connected on 11 of 17 field goal attempts including four three-pointers and several driving layups.

Senior Travis Wallace pulled down a season best 11 rebounds in helping the Ospreys compete on the glass against an Indiana squad that has dominated opponents in rebounding.

Four IU players finished in double digits led by 15 by Evan Gordon off the bench. Noah Vonleh chipped in a double-double for the Hoosiers with 13 points and 11 boards.

"I thought our guys again showed a tremendous amount of resiliency," said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll. "I was proud of our effort and our competitiveness. We challenged the guys to really attack the glass hard and I thought we did that especially on the offensive end. Offensively, we got some open looks but just weren't able to convert some of those opportunities. We continue to grow as a team."

After quickly falling behind 8-2 to start the game, North Florida battled back and trimmed the deficit to two, 12-10, with 15:22 left in the first half. A 14-3 run over the next four minutes allowed IU to build a double-digit lead, 26-13. However, Moore would score 12 of UNF's next 14 points and pull the Ospreys within four points, 28-24, with 8:55 to play.

Indiana would respond by outscoring UNF over the remainder of the half, 24-11, including a late 14-0 spurt. Demarcus Daniels would hit three consecutive shots in the closing minutes for the Ospreys, who trailed 52-35 at the halftime break.

An energized Osprey squad opened the second half with a 7-2 spurt closing the Hoosier lead to 12 points, 54-42, less than five minutes into play. Indiana again answered the UNF rally outscoring the Ospreys 23-6 over the next several minutes. North Florida struggled through a five-minute scoring drought as part of IU's run.

The Hoosiers held their biggest advantage, 85-51, with 6:34 remaining in the game but would muster just one field goal the rest of the way. The Ospreys closed the game on a 17-4 surge including back-to-back three-pointers by Aaron Bodager, who was celebrating his 20th birthday.

North Florida will now take a week off from competition to participate in fall semester exams before returning to action Dec. 17 at No. 1-ranked Michigan State.