Men's Basketball | 1/29/2020 11:00:00 AM

ASUN Home Weekend
Game 23: Stetson	Thursday, Jan. 30 | 7 p.m. | Jacksonville, Fla. | UNF Arena
	TV/Video: ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats
Series History	UNF leads 18-12 | @UNF: 9-6 / @SU: 9-6 / @Neutral: 0-0 | Streak: W5
Last Meeting	UNF 77, Stetson 67 @ UNF Arena (Feb. 26, 2019) | Recap / Boxscore
Social Media	@OspreysMBB | #SWOOPLife | Facebook | @UNFOspreys

 

Game 24: Kennesaw State	Saturday, Feb. 1 | 5 p.m. | Jacksonville, Fla. | UNF Arena
	TV/Video: ESPN+ ($) | Live Stats
Series History	UNF leads 25-20 | @UNF: 15-7 / @KSU: 10-13 / @Neutral: 0-0 | Streak: W2
Last Meeting	UNF 76, KSU 57 @ Kennesaw, Ga. (Jan. 2, 2020) | Recap / Boxscore

JACKSONVILLE - ASUN co-leader North Florida hosts a pair of key conference match-ups this weekend with fellow co-leader Stetson visiting UNF Arena Thursday night and Kennesaw State opening the second half of the league ledger Saturday. Thursday's game is sponsored by Pepsi while Saturday's contest is sponsored by Memorial Hospital.

1. REWIND
Ospreys are coming off a rollercoaster week that saw them hand Liberty its first ASUN loss of the season last Thursday in UNF Arena (71-70) before falling in a tough road battle Lipscomb on Saturday (85-73) | Ivan Gandia-Rosa had a strong week, leading UNF in scoring in both games as he finished with 19 points vs the Flames followed by a career-high 30-point effort against the Bisons

2. #BIRDSofTREY
With 263 3PM this season, UNF leads the nation from beyond the arc and only team with 250+ makes | The Ospreys have posted double digit 3PM in 17 games this season and are currently averaging a nation's best 12.0 threes per game | Against Trinity Baptist (Nov. 18) UNF connected on a program record 21 three-pointers | Ten different players have made a trey this season for North Florida while every player on the roster has attempted a three-pointer

3. HOME SWEET HOME
The Ospreys are 7-1 at home this season and have now won 11 of their last 12 in UNF Arena heading into Thursday's home clash with Stetson | UNF has boasted 10+ wins at home in each of the last five seasons | North Florida is 62-16 at home since start of 2014-15 season and owns a 99-42 mark during head coach Matthew Driscoll's 11-year tenure

4. MILESTONE MOVEMENTS
With a win this weekend, North Florida would record the 100th home win of the Matthew Driscoll era | Ivan Gandia-Rosa's 30-point outing at Lipscomb marked the first time a UNF player reached 30+ points since Noah Horchler's 32-point performance at North Alabama last season | Garrett Sams moved into 6th all-time in scoring at UNF with 1,369 career points | Gandia-Rosa is 33 assists shy of becoming UNF's all-time leader | Wajid Aminu needs just 7 blocked shots to takeover the top spot on Osprey career list | JT Escobar is 47 points away from joining the 1,000-Point Club at North Florida

5. LAST TIME WE MET
North Florida earned a 77-67 win over Stetson in last year's regular season finale at UNF Arena | Garrett Sams boasted a double-double (23 pts/11 rebs) in leading four UNF starters in double figures, while Carter Hendricksen nearly joined him with 19 pts/9 rebs | Ospreys held a slim 31-29 halftime edge before breaking things open in the second half | Abayomi Iyiola topped the Hatters with 16 pts, 13 rebs, 4 blks

In this year's conference opener, UNF topped Kennesaw State, 76-51, at the KSU Convocation Center | Ivan Gandia-Rosa had 18 pts, 7 assists to lead UNF with Garrett Sams (16 pts) and JT Escobar (14 pts) also reaching double digits | Ospreys struggled from long distance making just 7 of 26 attempts (26%) but held the Owls to just 38% shooting overall | North Florida built a 37-23 halftime lead and held a 48-28 advantage for points in the paint | Bryson Lockley nabbed a double-double (23 pts/ 11 rebs) in the loss for KSU

SCOUTING STETSON
- Stetson enters Thursday's tilt in a three-way tie atop the ASUN standings with UNF and Liberty at 5-2 in league play (11-11 overall)
- Hatters have won four straight and are 3-0 on the road in conference play
- Freshman standout Rob Perry leads SU at 15.8 PPG while Mahamadou Diawara follows at 13.2 PPG and 6.7 RPG
- Veteran head coach Donnie Jones is in his first season at the helm of the Hatter program
- North Florida has claimed the last five meetings in the series including a pair of double-digit margin sweeps a year ago

SCOUTING KENNESAW STATE
- Kennesaw State is 1-19 (0-7 ASUN) heading into the weekend and will play at Liberty on Thursday night
- KSU has dropped last 11 games | Lone victory came Dec. 13 vs Gardner-Webb (85-61)
- Tyler Hooker tops the Owls in scoring at 14.4 PPG followed by Jamie Lewis at 12.3 PPG | Armani Harris averages 7.5 RPG along with 7.1 PPG
- Owls are under the direction of first-year head coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
- Ospreys have taken last two meetings including a 76-57 victory in Kennesaw to open ASUN Conference play on Jan. 2 


PROBABLE OSPREY STARTERS
G - Ivan Gandia-Rosa (15.1 PPG | 3.2 RPG | 5.5 APG)
G - JT Escobar (11.7 PPG | 1.6 RPG)
G - Garrett Sams (14.4 PPG | 4.3 RPG)
F - Carter Hendricksen (14.9 PPG | 7.8 RPG)
F - Wajid Aminu (10.0 PPG | 6.0 RPG | 1.8 BPG)

UP NEXT
North Florida has an ASUN road trip for rematches against NJIT (Feb. 6) and FGCU (Feb. 8)

FOLLOW THE ACTION: Stay connected with the Ospreys all season long by following @OspreysMBB and @UNFOspreys on Twitter for all of the latest UNF men's basketball updates. Be sure to use the hashtag #SWOOPLife and #BirdsofTrey