OPENING TIP
Score: North Florida 59, Miami 77
Records: North Florida (0-3) | Miami (1-0)
Location: Watsco Center (Coral Gables, Fla.)
The Short Story: Led by a season high 21 points from Carter Hendricksen and career best 12 for freshman Jonathan Aybar, the North Florida men's basketball squad dropped a hard fought 77-59 decision Sunday night at Miami

BY THE NUMBERS
- Carter Hendricksen connected on 5 three-pointers en route to his second 20-point performance of the season
- Aybar, who made his second career start, made four shots including his first career trey while also swatting four shots
- Senior Ryan Burkhardt chipped in 9 points and 5 rebounds while junior Josh Endicott led all Ospreys with  7 rebounds
- Miami had five players in double figures paced by 20 points from Isaiah Wong | Harlond Beverly finished with a double-double (11 pts/ 11 rebs)
- Hurricanes shot 59% from the floor in the first half and finished at 49.2% for the game while UNF shot 31% from the floor
- #BirdsofTrey recorded a season high 12 three-pointers in the game

NOTABLE MOMENTS
- North Florida struggled offensively to start the game missing its first five shots as Miami opened up an early 11-0 lead
- Jose Placer got the Ospreys scoring started with a layup followed by back-to-back three-pointers from Emmanuel Adedoyin and Carter Hendricksen to close the deficit to 13-8
- Midway through the opening period, UNF went scoreless for four minutes allowing the Canes to grow their lead back to double figures
- UNF battled back and trimmed the margin to single digits before another cool spell of nearly three minutes saw the lead balloon to its largest of the half, 37-23
- Ryan Burkhardt drained the first of two treys in a 8-1 spurt by the Ospreys, cutting the gap to seven at 38-31 with around two minutes left in the stanza
- Josh Endicott hit a three from the corner to beat the halftime buzzer sending UNF into the break down 42-34
- Henricksen hit a trey to open the second half followed by a layup for Jonathan Aybar as the Ospreys pulled within three, 42-39
- After trading baskets, Miami used an 11-0 run over a four minute span to regain the momentum
- North Florida refused to go away and eventually closed the deficit to 8 points (67-59) after holding the Canes without a point for over four minutes of action
- Miami would close the contest on a 10-0 surge to build the final margin
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- 7 of the 8 Ospreys on the floor scored with every player grabbing a rebound
- UNF finished with 15 assists on 21 baskets led by 5 helpers from Jose Placer
- After making 9 threes in the first half, North Florida went 3 of 19 from long range in the second half
- Teams combined for 34 turnovers (18 - UNF | 16 - UM)
- Miami claimed the battle of the boards, posting a 47-34 advantage 

LAST WORD
"Really proud of the guys, playing three games in five days and traveling from North Carolina to Miami, with quick turnarounds and different styles of play. Thought our guys played with a ton of resiliency. I thought our fight and perserverance really stood out tonight. We were able to make some runs and also made them do some things. We didn't back down and we didn't stop competing. However, what we didn't do was complete and that is something this group will figure out as we continue to grow. We have to find ways to complete. We had the margin to eight late in the game and had a chance to cut it even closer but missed a chance and then the closed with a run. I don't think the final score indicates how well our guys competed and the kind of game that it really was. We've gotten better over these three games without a doubt. I thought we did some good things defensively but our live ball turnovers and bad misses that led to easy transitions for them really cost us." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
The season opening road swing continues for North Florida with a trip to No. 18 Florida State on Wednesday (Dec. 2). The game is the fourth of five road contests for UNF to start the year.