Thursday, February 8
Kennesaw, Ga.
7 p.m.
University of North Florida
11-16, 5-5
81
at
89
Kennesaw State
8-17, 4-6
1
2
F
North Florida
40
41
81
Kennesaw State
42
47
89
Team Stats
UNF
KSU
FG%
.492
.395
3FG%
.269
.545
FT%
.824
.767
RB
34
45
TO
14
9
STL
4
8
Game Leaders
Pts
22
FGM
10
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
15
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
7
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
2
FTM
2
Players Mentioned
F
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG/F
/ Men's Basketball
Owls Clip Ospreys in Back-and-Forth Battle
2/8/2018 9:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball
OPENING TIP
Score:Â North Florida 81, Kennesaw State 89
Records: North Florida (11-16, 5-5 ASUN) | Kennesaw State (8-17, 4-6Â ASUN)
Location:Â KSU Convocation Center (Kennesaw, Ga.)
The Short Story: In a back-and-forth contest that included several ties and lead changes, the North Florida men's basketball team came up on the short end of the scoreboard 89-81 against Kennesaw State on Thursday night. Noah Horchler narrowly missed his 11th double-double finishing with 22 points and 9 rebounds
GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore PDF | Full Game Book
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Noah Horchler scored 22 points, marking just the second 20+ outing of his career while also sharing the team lead with 9 boards
- Trip Day scored 16 points for UNF while Garrett Sams chipped in 15 and Ivan Gandia-Rosa added 12
- Gandia-Rosa also handed out 11 assists, marking his third double digit total for helpers on the year
- Wajid Aminu was close to a double-double as well notching 8 pts/9 rebs
- Kennesaw State had five players in double figures led by 28 (6-6 3PM) from Nick Masterson
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half Notes
- Ospreys jumped out to the quick lead scoring the first 8 points of the game | Horchler accounted for 6 of the 8
- Kennesaw State answered with a 17-2 run to grab their first lead of the night
- UNF struggled from long distance, missing its first 6 trey attempts but were dominating inside scoring 28 consecutive points in the paint
- Trailing by six with just under 7 minutes left in the period, North Florida rallied back in the lead using an 18-6 run | UNF got triples from Sams and Trip Day during the run that was capped by back-to-back baskets from Gandia-Rosa
- The Owls scored the final 8 points of the half to grab a slim 42-40 lead at the break
- Ospreys shot 56% from the field and had 32 points in the paint in the half but went just 2 of 11 from long distance | KSU shot 35% from the floor but made 4 of 7 three-point tries
Second Half Notes
- The game was tightly contested over the first five minutes of the second stanza despite three consecutive turnovers for the Ospreys to start the frame
- North Florida used a 12-5 spurt to seize the momentum and build a 60-54 lead with 11 minutes left to play
- UNF would maintain the advantage on the scoreboard for several more minutes but KSU refused to go away
- The Owls chipped away at the Osprey margin and eventually regained the lead, 78-77 at the 2:33 mark
- Day dropped in a fast break lay-up seconds later to put UNF back on top, but Kennesaw closed the game on an 11-2 run to secure the victory
- KSU converted 9 of 10 FTs in the closing minutes
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- Ospreys shot 49% from the floor for the game and held KSU to 39%
- KSU outrebounded UNF, 45-34, and collected 21 second chance points
- UNF recorded 20 assists on 30 made baskets
- North Florida held a 46-36 advantage for points in the paint
- Loss was UNF's third straight at KSU | Teams have split the regular season match-up in each of last three seasons
LAST WORD
"We got beat on the glass and gave up 21 second chance points, which is something that is becoming a very common theme. We've made strides and gotten better but haven't figured it out completely yet. We have got to be complete for 40 minutes. We played in spurts but we didn't play for the full game. We just have to get back to work and figure out a way to rebound the ball." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll
NEXT UP
North Florida wraps up final regular season road trip Saturday at Lipscomb.
Â
NORTH FLORIDA MEN'S BASKETBALL | Post Game Presser vs BELLARMINE
Saturday, January 24
NORTH FLORIDA MEN'S BASKETBALL | Post Game Presser vs EKU
Friday, January 23
NORTH FLORIDA MEN'S BASKETBALL | Exhibition Highlights vs Warner
Thursday, October 30
NORTH FLORIDA MEN'S BASKETBALL | BOOT CAMP EXTENDED CUT
Wednesday, October 01
