IOWA CITY, Iowa - After multiple scoring runs and back-and-forth leads running into the second half, North Florida men's basketball (4-4) fell short late against the high-powered offense of Iowa (5-2), 103-78, on Wednesday evening.
The Ospreys had three double-digit scorers in
Chaz Lanier,
Jaylen Smith and
Ametri Moss against the Hawkeyes, who were the catalyst in keeping UNF within a possession well into the second half. Smith topped his career-high set just a few days ago at LSU with 15 points, while Lanier puts up his seventh double figure scoring performance in eight games played.
FINAL SCORE
UNF | 78
Iowa | 103
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
First Half
UNF started the scoring affair early and often with a pair of threes from
Nate Lliteras and a two from Lanier in the first three minutes of the game...Lanier continued to score with a turnaround jumper and a slam dunk to keep the Ospreys within one...a layup from
Jasai Miles, followed by back-to-back treys from Lanier and Smith put UNF in front by two halfway through the first...after Iowa went on a run of their own, Nze cut the Hawkeye lead back in half with a three...two late threes from Miles and
Jake van der Heijden, along with a Miles' buzzer-beating shot made, made it a two-possession game at the half.
Second Half
Coming out the break, the volume of scoring was no different with the Ospreys jumping out with seven consecutive points completed by a Moss jumper to go up by one...after the Hawkeyes made a 12-2 run afterwards, Smith regained momentum with a long three-pointer at the 13-minute mark...a few scores from van der Heijden and Lanier kept the game within single digits against a relentless Iowa offense...UNF kept the three-ball in play over the final minutes of the game from Smith and
Oscar Berry, but Iowa kept the lead for the rest of the night to end the game with a 103-78 final score.
BY THE NUMBERS
NORTH FLORIDA
Chaz Lanier | 16 points, 4 rebounds
Jaylen Smith | 15 points, 2 rebounds
Ametri Moss | 13 points, 2 rebounds
Iowa
Owen Freeman | 16 points, 5 rebounds, 5 blocks, 3 steals
Tony Perkins | 21 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists
Ben Krikke | 21 points, 2 rebounds
Patrick McCaffrey | 16 points, 5 rebounds
COACH DRISCOLL'S COMMENTS
NOTABLES
- On top of a career-high 15 points, he also set lifetime best marks for field goals made and attempted (5-for-11), as well as three-pointers made and attempted (4-for-8).
- Moss follows just behind Lanier with his sixth double figure scoring game of the season with 13 points.
- Lliteras and Miles were both efficient on both sides of the ball with eight points and seven rebounds from each of them.
- UNF outshot and had a better average from beyond the arc shooting 46% of 36 made three-pointers.
- They also held the margin against the Hawkeyes on the bench, outscoring them, 34-26, in that category.
- The Ospreys sticked to its usual lineup for a third consecutive game on the road on Wednesday.
UP NEXT
UNF returns home this weekend to get back on track against High Point on Saturday, Dec. 2, with tip-off set for 2 p.m., at UNF Arena.
