OPENING TIP
Score: North Florida 82, NJIT  75
Records: North Florida (15-10, 8-2 ASUN) | NJIT (7-15, 4-5 ASUN)
Location: NJIT WEC (Newark, N.J.)
The Short Story: Despite matching a season low with only six three-pointers made, North Florida eclipsed the 80-point mark and never trailed in an 82-75 road victory Thursday night at NJIT.

GAMEDAY MEDIA CENTER
Final Boxscore

BY THE NUMBERS
- Wajid Aminu scored a season high 21 points and narrowly missed a double-double, pulling down a team best 9 rebounds | Aminu also swatted five shots
- Carter Hendricksen finished with 19 points and 8 rebounds | Was a perfect 7-of-7 at the FT line
- Garrett Sams also contributed double-digits, scoring 12 points while corralling 7 boards
- NJIT had four players in double figures led by 19 from Zach Cooks | Souleymane Diakite added 13 points/15 rebounds in the loss
- Highlanders limited Ospreys to a season-low six three-pointers for the second time this season
- North Florida shot 51% from the floor for the game including a blistering 72% (18 of 25) in the first half

NOTABLE MOMENTS
- Ospreys opened the game on fire making their first eight shots of the game en route to building a 19-8 lead | UNF's first miss came at the 13:03 mark
- North Florida would maintain a double-digit margin for much of the opening period but NJIT was able to close within four points, 35-31, with just under four minutes remaining in the half
- Aminu, who netted 15 first half points, halted the Highlander run hitting the first of back-to-back treys from him and Carter Hendricksen as the Osprey lead bounced back to 10
- UNF closed the half with a 7-2 spurt and held a 50-38 lead at intermission
- The Ospreys widened their advantage early in the second half after scoring the first six points
- North Florida held its largest lead of the game of 19 (63-44) with 14 minutes left in the game
- The Highlanders continued to battle and slowly trimmed the deficit | UNF would go scoreless for nearly five minutes allowing NJIT to go on a 16-4 surge that cut the lead to single digits
- Four straight free throws by NJIT with just over a minute remaining closed the gap to just three, 74-71
- JT Escobar drilled a corner three-pointer to double the Osprey lead | The trey moved Escobar over the 1,000 point mark for his career
- The Ospreys would make five of six free throws down the stretch to secure the key road victory and avenge an earlier loss to the Highlanders
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- North Florida upped its nation-leading 3PM total to 297 for the season
- Win for Ospreys extended the series streak to five straight wins for the visiting team
- Osprey's surpassed 80-point mark for the fourth time in ASUN play this season

LAST WORD
"The one thing I thought our guys did really well tonight was keep their composure. When you're playing on the road against a team that can cause turnovers like they did in the second half, it can really get to a team mentally and cause some frustration. I thought our guys stayed composed and did a lot of nice things down the stretch. I thought we made some key passes and made our free throws. JT's three in the corner was a dagger that we practice and talk about needing to make. I also felt like we did a good job of getting defensive rebounds and kept them from getting second chances. That was big because it allowed us to separate in the end. I'm really proud of our guys fight and our resiliency." -- Head coach Matthew Driscoll

NEXT UP
North Florida wraps up its ASUN weekend trek Saturday against rival FGCU at Alico Arena at 7 p.m.