OPENING TIP
Score: Creighton 76, North Florida 67
Records: North Florida (4-3) | Creighton (4-1)
Location: CHI Health Center Omaha (Omaha, Neb.)
The Short Story: North Florida men's basketball held a halftime lead on the road at Creighton but the Bluejays got hot from long distance in the second half for a 76-67 decision in Continental Tires Las Vegas Invitational play on Sunday

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore

NOTABLE NUMBERS
- All eight players that got in the game for the Ospreys recorded points and rebounds
- Carter Hendricksen finished with 19, while Wajid Aminu chipped in 17 as the Osprey's two double-digit scorers
- Aminu narrowly missed a double-double, grabbing a team high 9 rebounds followed closely by Dorian James and Hendricksen with 8 each
- JT Escobar had a tough shooting night, making just 1 of 11 attempts including 0-for-7 from three point line
- The Bluejays saw four of five starters reach double digits paced by 19  from Marcus Zegarowski and a double-double (15 pts/11 rebs) from Mitch Ballock
- UNF outrebounded CU, 39-38, and also held a 5-2 advantage in blocked shots

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half Notes
- Creighton scored the first two baskets of the game and Ospreys didn't score until a pair of free throws by Carter Hendricksen at 16:44 mark
- After another CU basket, North Florida roared back using a 15-2 run highlighted by treys from Hendricksen and Ryan Burkhardt
- The Opsreys would push the lead to nine on several occassions before the Bluejays rallied to within one (32-31) with just over a minute left in the period
- Wajid Aminu closed the half with back-to-back buckets including a thunderous dunk just before the buzzer, sending UNF into intermission with the 36-31 lead

Second Half Notes
- A sluggish start for the Ospreys in the second half proved the difference as Creighton regained the lead for good with a 19-5 spurt that made the score 50-41 in favor of CU | UNF was held scoreless for nearly 4:30 minutes as the Bluejays netted 14 consecutive points
- Hendicksen converted three free throws to end the Osprey drought but Creighton's next three baskets were three-pointers, growing the margin to double figures
- North Florida's defense got stingy over the next four minutes, holding CU without a point while trimming the margin back to single digits
- Ivan Gandia-Rosa hit a trey with 43 seconds left to play which cut the deficit to seven points (74-67) but that's as close as the Ospreys would get
- Bluejays were 7 of 14 from the 3-point arc in the second half
- Ospreys made 14 of 15 FT tries in the final period

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- North Florida made 8 treys in the game, marking the first time this season that they didn't reach double figure 3PM
- Wajid Aminu matched his season high for rebounds | Dorian James matched his career best total for boards
- With three more blocks, Aminu has 11 in the last three games

LAST WORD
"The old adage proved itself again... threes beat you and they always will. The three point shot is a great asset and tool when you have guys that can make them. In the second half, they went 6 of 13 possessions where they made a three and that separated the game. That run got them the lead into double digits. To our guys credit, we battled and got multiple stops in a row and doing what we needed to do to stay in the game. The separation was too big and we didn't make plays down the stretch, where we have to make those buckets. Empty possessions in games like this are really hard to overcome." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll


NEXT UP
North Florida heads to Las Vegas for the remainder of play in the Continental Tires Las Vegas Invitational. Ospreys will face LIU on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 28) before meeting either Cal Poly or Tennessee State on Friday (Nov. 29)