OPENING TIP
Score: North Florida 68, Kennesaw State 65
Records: North Florida (6-10, 4-2 ASUN) | Kennesaw State (3-13, 0-8 ASUN)
Location: UNF Arena (Jacksonville, Fla.)
The Short Story: The North Florida men's basketball team overcame a frenetic second half rally by Kennesaw State to earn a sweep of their weekend series with a 68-65 victory on Saturday night.

BY THE NUMBERS
- For the second straight game, Jose Placer paced the Osprey offense finishing with 15 points
- Carter Hendricksen stuffed the stat line with 13 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, a block and an assist
- Emmanuel Adedoyin chipped in double digits scoring 10 points while freshman Jonanthan Aybar finished with 9 points, 8 rebounds and a block
- Spencer Rodgers topped the Kennesaw State effort with 21 points including 4 three-pointers
- North Florida won the battle of the boards, 37-31, and overcame 20 turnovers that led to 20 points for the Owls
- KSU connected on 6 three-pointers while holding UNF to just 5 treys on the night

NOTABLE MOMENTS
- The Ospreys swooped out to an early 13-3 advantage highlighted by a 10-0 run after the squad's traded threes to open the scoring
- North Florida would maintain a double-digit lead for most of the half behind a 65% shooting (17 of 26) performance from the floor
- UNF closed the half with a 16-5 spurt to build a 20-point halftime margin, 45-25
- Kennesaw State turned the tables in the second half as they slowly chipped away at the Osprey lead
- An 18-3 surge early in the second half trimmed the deficit to single digits, 52-45 with just over 12 minutes left in the contest
- Jose Placer snapped the UNF drought with a pair of free throws but a 13-6 spurt minutes later allowed the Owls to close to within three (61-58)
- Placer again played the stopper netting the next two baskets for the Ospreys to keep it a two-possession game
- KSU would make the score, 66-65, with less than 10 seconds remaining but Carter Hendricksen connected on a pair of free throws to secure the home sweep
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
- With the win, UNF extended its win streak to 5 games overall versus Kennesaw and have not lost to KSU at UNF Arena in 14 meetings
- 8 of 9 Ospreys scored with six players netting 7 or more points
- KSU outscored North Florida, 40-23, in the second half forcing 14 UNF turnovers and holding them scoreless from the 3pt line (0 for 8)

LAST WORD - Head Coach Matthew Driscoll
"Super proud of the weekend and really proud of our ability to win two home games because it is really difficult to do as evidence by the scores around the league and country. Tonight was a game of two different halves. In the first half, we were really clicking on all cylinders especially defensively which led to some really easy offense. Then in the second half, I thought they forced us into some undisciplined play. We had 14 turnovers that they capitalized on. Give their team credit for playing aggressive and finding their hot guys. I thought the put us on our heals and we did some things that we don't normally do. This experience is going to be great for us because at the end of the day, our goal is to win games. We were able to get the sweep and move to 4-2 after winning our third game in a row." 

NEXT UP
North Florida is currently scheduled to host ASUN leading North Alabama on Jan. 29-30, but an official announcement for next weekend's schedule will be made by the ASUN office early next week