HOUSTON - North Florida men's basketball continued its stretch of non-conference tests, doing so in one of the biggest ways as the Ospreys dropped a road game at No. 1 Houston (9-0) Tuesday, Dec. 6. It was UNF's third game against a ranked team on the year and its first game against the nation's top-ranked team since playing at No. 1 Florida in November of 2006.
UNF (2-6) has now played No. 2 Gonzaga, No. 15 Kentucky and No. 3 Houston in less than a month. Gonzaga, Houston and Kentucky were ranked second, third and fourth respectively in the preseason AP and USA Today Coaches Poll.
FINAL SCORE
#1 Houston | 76
North Florida | 42
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
1st Half
- UNF won the tip-off for the eighth-straight game, but Houston raced out to a 8-0 lead through the first two minutes … Carter Hendricksen got UNF on the board with a three-pointer … a helter skelter pace ensued for the next six minutes as Houston had a 18-10 lead at the first media timeout … Jarius Hicklen added a three-pointer and Jadyn Parker got a bucket down low … North Florida stayed hot from deep as Oscar Berry and Jonathan Aybar dialed up three-pointers … Houston took advantage of six UNF turnovers to take a 28-16 lead at the second media timeout … Jadyn Parker got tough on defense, posting a pair of blocks and rebounds over three possessions … both teams went on a three-plus minute scoring drought until Houston got one to fall … Houston carried a run into the break as UNF trailed, 42-18.
2nd Half
- Hicklen hit a contested three-pointer from the corner as the shot clock expired to give UNF the first points of the second half … Hicklen repeated the same look for his second three of the half and Berry followed with another trey, although the Cougars' lead expanded by a pair of points at the 12:45 mark … Hicklen would end up scoring nine of his 12 points all in the second half … the Ospreys went to the bench, with 12 Ospreys earning minutes in the second frame as Houston stayed in front.
BY THE NUMBERS
UNF
#1 HOUSTON
- Ja'Vier Francis | 14 points, 4 blocks
- Jarace Walker | 12 points, 10 rebounds
- Jamal Shead | 10 assists
NOTABLES
- It was UNF's first game against the number one team in the nation since playing at No. 1 Florida Nov. 14, 2006
- UNF played its third game against a ranked team this season
- UNF has played 33 games against ranked foes during its Division days
- North Florida has played at No. 2 Gonzaga, No. 15 Kentucky and No. 1 Houston this season
- It was the first meeting between these two teams
- 12 Ospreys logged minutes
- There were only fifteen combined free throws in the game
- Hicklen posted his sixth double-digit scoring performance of the season and second in a row
- Houston entered the game third in the country for steals per game and second in blocks per game
UP NEXT
UNF plays the first of its four home games this month against Bethune-Cookman Saturday, Dec. 10 at 2 p.m.
