OPENING TIP
Score: North Florida 49, #12 Auburn 95
Records: North Florida (5-9) | Auburn (11-2)
Location: Auburn Arena (Auburn, Ala.)
The Short Story: Playing its second straight nationally-ranked foe, the North Florida men's basketball squad saw No. 12 Auburn net 41 points off turnovers in a 95-49 loss at Auburn Arena on Saturday. 

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore

NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Noah Horchler and Ezekiel Balogun shared team honors with 10 points each
- Horchler added a team-best 7 rebounds and blocked a pair of shots against the ranked Tiger squad
- Auburn had five players in double digits led by 18 by Bryce Brown
- Tigers forced 33 turnovers and converted that into 41 points
- A much smaller Osprey lineup kept things close on the boards, trailing just 39-33 in rebounds

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half Notes
- The score stayed close over the opening 10 minutes as the Ospreys answered the Tigers challenges and held a 9-8 lead following a Noah Horchler lay-up with 13:36 left in the period
- Auburn used a 21-4 run over the next several minutes allowed the home squad to grab the momentum
- Ezekiel Balogun hit the first of his two three-pointers to halt the Tiger spurt
- Cam Copeland converted a pair of free throws followed by Balogun's other trey
- The Osprey offense cooled in the closing minutes as Auburn scored the final 8 points of the stanza to carry a 45-23 lead into intermission
- North Florida has limited by 21 turnovers in the half that resulted in 24 points for AU
  
Second Half Notes
- A scrappy UNF squad opened the second period with an 8-4 run, cutting the margin to 49-31 with 17:23 left in the game
- The Tigers responded with a 7-0 surge over the next three minutes to regain the momentum and then minutes later held the Ospreys scoreless for over five minutes in a 10-0 spurt that pushed the lead over 30
- UNF struggled for any offensive consistency as a smothering AU defense held the Ospreys to 14 points over the final 14 points 

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- UNF remained winless against teams from the SEC falling to 0-24 all-time
- 9 of 11 Ospreys that played got in the scoring column while Auburn had 13 different scorers
- Jared Harper handed out 10 of AU's 23 assists
- The 33 turnovers by the Ospreys was the most ever forced by Auburn including collecting 20 steals
- North Florida was 7 of 9 from the FT line | AU was 18 of 27
- Ospreys connected on 6 treys in the contest

LAST WORD
"Auburn's ability to aggressively defend at four spots makes it extremely difficult for our offense to get things started where we'd like to. We also turned the ball over way too much allowing them to get into the helter skelter style of play that they are so good at playing. These games against high level opponents is tough on our guys so its nice to have that portion of our schedule completed. We will get back to work at practice tomorrow and look to continue getting better as we prepare for our final non-conference game and then ASUN play." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
North Florida plays at home for just the fourth time this season when they host Florida National on Wed. Jan. 2. The Ospreys host ASUN newcomer North Alabama next Saturday in the league opener.