KENNESAW, Ga. - In UNF's sixth conference game decided by three points or less, North Florida men's basketball (8-18, 4-8 ASUN) overcame the odds and dug deep on the road to hold off Kennesaw State, 74-72, Saturday, Feb. 12. With the win, Head Coach
Matthew Driscoll became the only coach in UNF men's basketball history to reach 200 wins.
UNF led for the vast majority of the game thanks to a scorching-hot offense and stifling defense early. KSU (11-14, 6-6 ASUN) got its legs late in the first half and throughout the middle of the second half, getting back into the game.
Fastforwarding to late in the second half,
Jadyn Parker put UNF up 73-70 with two free throws, KSU's Brandon Stroud made a shot and drew contact before missing the game-tying free throw with 37 seconds left. UNF hit another free throw and evaded KSU's last-second shot to come away with the win.
Despite the Owls taking 18-more shots than the Ospreys, North Florida held Kennesaw State to 4-for-22 from the from three-point range, making UNF 2-0 in ASUN play when holding its opponents to under 20 percent from long range.
Jadyn Parker came up big, posting a career-high 17 points on 5-for-6 shooting while going 7-for-10 from the line.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
1st Half
- A hot start has been fundamental in UNF's wins during conference play, and Saturday that rang true again .. North Florida shot 75.6 percent to set up a 34-22 lead … Emmanuel Adedoyin hit a three-pointer at the 7:04 mark, generating a 15-point advantage … Kennesaw State suffered a four-plus minute scoring drought and UNF held the Owls to 1-for-9 from three in the first half … the Ospreys got nine points from Jarius Hicklen as North Florida led 44-34 at the end of the first half.
2nd Half
- KSU got within single digits for the first time since the 9:23 mark in the first half with a bucket right out of the break … KSU still struggled from the line, but the Owls outrebounded UNF by 10 in the second frame to help chip away at the UNF lead … KSU went 13-for-17 from the line, cutting the UNF lead to just 63-61 at the 7:09 mark … the game saw four more tie scores and two more lead changes before North Florida hung on … ultimately, KSU led for just 42 seconds of the second session.
BY THE NUMBERS
KSU
- Demond Robinson | 13 points, 6 rebounds
- Brandon Stroud | 17 rebounds, 12 points
- Chris Youngblood | 12 points, 8 rebounds
UNF
NOTABLES
- This was the 50th meeting between these two teams.
- Head Coach Matthew Driscoll earned win number 200 for his UNF career. He is the only coach in UNF men's basketball history to reach 200 victories.
- UNF was missing both Carter Hendricksen and Jose Placer. Chaz Lanier made his fourth career start, and first since starting at FGCU.
- Parker posted a career-high 17 points to go with five rebounds. He went 7-for-10 from the free throw line.
- Jarius Hicklen has posted nine-consecutive double-digit scoring performances.
- Emmanuel Adedoyin has scored in double-digits for consecutive games.
- Both of UNF's games against KSU this season have been decided by two points.
- North Florida is 29-21 against Kennesaw State all-time.
- UNF put the clamps on KSU from the outside, holding one of the most efficient offenses to only 18.2 percent from beyond the arc.
- The Ospreys led for over 33 minutes.
- The game saw both teams posting scoring runs of 10 points.
- UNF led by as many as 17, while KSU's largest lead was only three.
- The Owls took 18 more shots than UNF.
COACH DRISCOLL'S COMMENTS
NEXT UP
UNF comes back home Tuesday, Feb. 15 against Liberty. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
