Ospreys Fall on Road at #19 Florida State

Tuesday, December 17

Tallahassee, Fla.

8:30 p.m.

University of North Florida

7-6,0-0ASUN

Florida State

9-2,1-1ACC

North Florida

Florida St.

Photo by: Chris Leduc

12/17/2019 11:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

OPENING TIP
Score: #19 Florida State 98, North Florida 81
Records: North Florida (7-6) | Florida State (9-2)
Location: Tucker Center (Tallahassee, Fla.)
The Short Story: Despite making 13 three-pointers against No. 19-ranked Florida State, the North Florida men's basketball squad was unable to counter the Noles inside size in a 98-81 loss Tuesday night in Tallahassee, Fla.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore

NOTABLE NUMBERS
- Ivan Gandia-Rosa led the Ospreys with 23 points, including 4 three-pointers, and seven assists
- Garrett Sams added 20 points with 4 treys for UNF, while Ryan Burkhardt chipped in 12 points off the bench
- Carter Hendricksen and Burkhardt shared team honors with five boards each
- FSU had seven players in double digits paced by 15 for 7-1 center Balsa Koprivica

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half Notes
- Wajid Aminu netted the Ospreys first two baskets for an early 4-2 lead
- FSU responded with a 12-2 run to take the lead
- A stretch of four consecutive three-pointers for UNF, highlighted by back-to-back treys for Ryan Burkhardt, cut the Osprey deficit to one, 22-21
- After trading baskets, the Noles broke things open with a 14-5 spurt
- The Ospreys rallied late in the period, closing the margin to five (44-39) but FSU scored the final two baskets for a 48-39 halftime lead

Second Half Notes
- A pair of UNF turnovers to start the second half aided a 15-5 run for the Seminoles that widened the margin to near 20
- The gap hovered at that point for the rest of the game, as North Florida was only able to get within 15 points a couple times
- Ospreys were only able to convert 4 three-pointers in the final half

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- North Florida upped its nation-leading 3PM total to 162 for the season, posting 11 games with 10 or more treys made
- Ivan Gandia-Rosa moved to within 5 points of joining the 1,000 Point Club at UNF
- Ospreys slipped to 0-5 all-time against Florida State
- This was UNF's 25th game against an AP Top 25 ranked opponent
- Gandia-Rosa, Sams and Burkhardt each made 4 threes on the night

LAST WORD
"Proud of our team's fight tonight. Unfortunately, in games like this against these type of teams, the line of separation is so small. It was 26-23 and then the next thing you know it was 40-28. We fought back in the final minutes of the first half and had the ball to start the second half down just nine. But we had two turnovers and the lead went back to 13. It's like being a salmon swimming up stream, fighting against it, and really you're own worst enemy. We have to find a way to get through that as we finish up this non-conference section. It is definitely a challenge playing at Syracuse and Dayton but it is not something that we can't work on and improve on before starting conference play at Kennesaw State." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
North Florida travels north for a pre-Christmas game at Syracuse on Saturday (Dec. 21)