JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida men's basketball embarks on a four-game stretch in Jacksonville, its longest of the season, as the Ospreys go to JU Thursday before hosting the Dolphins Saturday in a River City Rumble home-and-home.

Saturday's game is sponsored by Bank of England and marks UNF's homecoming game for 2023. 

GAME DETAILS
Date: Thursday, Feb. 2 | Saturday, Feb. 4
Time: 7 p.m. | 5 p.m.
Location: Swisher Gymnasium | UNF Arena
Opponent: Jacksonville Dolphins
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: judolphins.com | unfospreys.com
 
All-Time Series: JU leads, 21-18

• UNF is 9-10 at home and 8-11 at JU
• The Ospreys have had the better hand over the past eight years, winning 14 of the last 20
• UNF has won seven of the last 10 home games

An Osprey Win Would....

• A win Thursday would snap JU's two-game winning streak in the series
• A win Thursday and Saturday would bring UNF to 20 wins at JU and make UNF 2-0 in February

PROJECTED UNF STARTING FIVE
G - Oscar Berry (4.6 PPG | 1.9 RPG | 0.7 APG)
G - Jarius Hicklen (11.9 PPG | 3.5 RPG | 2.7 APG)
G - Jose Placer (12.6 PPG | 2.4 RPG | 2.5 APG)
F - Carter Hendricksen (17.0 | 6.5 RPG | 1.9 APG)
F - Jadyn Parker (6.0 PPG | 4.8 RPG | 1.7 BPG)

LAST TIME OUT
FLORENCE, Ala. - Despite Carter Hendricksen's third 30-plus point performance in the span of four games, North Alabama's Daniel Ortiz countered with 10 three-pointers as the Lions' (13-10, 5-5 ASUN) hot shooting held off the Ospreys, 91-78, Saturday, Jan. 28.

LAST TIME VS. JU
JU established an early lead and stayed in front Feb. 23, 2022 at JU.

COACH DRISCOLL ON TOMORROW'S GAME  
"For maybe the first time outside of the COVID season we are playing back-to-back games against the same opponent. We continue to show signs for stretches where we are one of the best defensive teams in the ASUN, as we were last year. However, it's those few stretches between media timeouts in which we get outscored by closed to double digits, causing our points of failure. JU is one of the most consistently physical and defensive teams that we have seen all year. We need to match that from the jump ball and over the whole 40 minutes in order for us to have success throughout the game." -- Head Coach Matthew Driscoll
 

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NORTH FLORIDA NOTES

800 GAMES IN A ROW 
With last Thursday's game at Central Arkansas, the Ospreys have made a three-pointer in 800-straight games dating all the way back to 1996. UNF made it 801 Saturday.

HOT AS THE 'A'SUN
Carter Hendricksen has gone for three-30-point games in the last four contests. The forward is averaging 17 points per game and 6.5 boards each contest during league play. On a related note, Hendricksen joined Dallas Moore as the only two Ospreys to tally three 30-point games in the span of 10 days.

1,500
Carter Hendricksen surpassed 1,500-career points after going for 31 at UNA Saturday. He is just one of five Ospreys to reach that milestone.

RIM PROTECTOR 
Jadyn Parker averaged three blocks per game during the last road trip, bringing him to 97 for his career. He would be one of six Ospreys to reach 100-career blocks.

PUSH THE ENVELOPE
North Florida has posted seven of its eight wins when tallying at least 80 points. Three of those wins have seen the Ospreys reaching 90 points.

TO THE WIRE
North Florida has played seven games determined by five points or less this year, going 4-3 in such contests. The Ospreys are 58-46 under head coach Matthew Driscoll in such games, and 3-0 in such home games this season.

ALL OVER THE RECORD BOOK
Carter Hendricksen was already over the UNF record book quite a bit heading into the season, although the last few weeks have really sent him all throughout the ledger. Hendricksen ranks in the top ten in: points (T-4th - 1,513), field goals made (5th - 489), field goals attempted (2nd - 1,226), three-pointers made (5th - 249), three-pointers attempted (3rd - 727), free throws made (5th - 286), free throw percentage (6th - .827), rebounds (4th - 691), rebounding average (5.5 - 10th), defensive rebounds (2nd - 555), defensive rebound average (5th - 4.4), games played (8th - 126) and minutes (5th - 3,387).

HISTORIC GROUP
Two weekends ago Hendricksen surpassed 200-career assists, becoming just the fourth Osprey to ever reach the 1,000-point, 500-rebound and 200-assist club. The forward joins Chris Davenport, Garrett Sams and Jamaal Williams. 
 

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SCOUTING JU

• Jacksonville enters play 12-9 and 5-5 in league play
• The Dolphins split their last road trip, dropping a contest at UNA before concluding the road stint with a win at UCA
• JU has gone 'loss-win' for five iterations throughout league play, splitting the first 10
• JU has a pair of quality road non-conference wins including victories at UL-Monroe and VCU
• Jordan Mincy is in his second season as head coach of the Dolphins. JU advanced all the way to the ASUN Championship game last year, falling to Bellarmine
• JU likes to slow the game down, averaging 65 points per game while holding foes to 62.2 points per contest
• The Dolphins' offense is most heavily impacted by the play of Kevion Nolan. The guard is averaging 13.1 points, 4.4 assists and 4.2 rebounds in 31.3 minutes played per game
• Mike Marsh does the heavy lifting in terms of scoring in the paint, averaging 10.6 points
• Osayi Osifo is the team's leading rebounder at six boards a game
• JU is ninth in the country in fouls per game at 13.5
• The Dolphins aim to put the clamps down on three-pointers, holding teams to 29.6 percent from beyond the arc, good for 18th in the NCAA

 

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OTHER NOTES

LEADING LATE
UNF has fared very well under head coach Matthew Driscoll when possessing a lead with under five minutes to go in the game. Under Driscoll, North Florida is 182-16 when leading with five minutes to go on the clock.

TELL-TALE STATS
UNF has established a few tell-tale stats that have given a hint of a positive outcome for the Ospreys during head coach Matthew Driscoll's tenure. UNF is 167-39 when leading at the half, 182-16 when leading with five minutes left, 86-8 when holding foes under 40 percent from the floor and 176-34 when shooting better than its opponent.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The Ospreys have played one of the toughest schedules in the nation, having already played opponents such as No. 2 Gonzaga, Washington, Duquesne, No. 15 Kentucky, High Point, No. 1 Houston and Pittsburgh.

PRESEASON ALL-ASUN 

• Jose Placer and Carter Hendricksen were both tabbed to the All-ASUN Preseason team. 
• UNF joined Liberty as the only two teams in the ASUN Conference to have two honorees on the preseason squad.

RETURNING MINUTES AND POINTS

• After having one of the youngest teams in the nation last year, North Florida returns as a veteran team. 
• The Ospreys bring back 81 percent of their scoring and 74 percent of minutes played from last season. 
• All told, UNF has nine returners and four newcomers, with five of the nine returners being regular starters last season.

AWARDS AND HONORS IN 2021-22

•  Jose Placer and Carter Hendricksen both took home ASUN All-Academic honors to close the 2022 season. For Hendricksen, it was his third-career honor. 
• Hendricksen also joined former teammate, Wajid Aminu, as a CoSIDA Academic All-District honoree a year ago. Despite battling injury during the 2021-22 season, Hendricksen still managed to average 12.2 points per game and 5.0 rebounds per contest, bringing him past 1,000-career points and 500-career rebounds.
• Shooting guard Jarius Hicklen put the ASUN on notice last year, averaging 12 points per game over 30 games and 15 starts. Initially not starting at the beginning of the 2021-22 season, Hicklen's consistency, combined with some injuries on the UNF roster, brought him into a starting role that he did not let go of. The Dallas, Texas native was named ASUN Newcomer of the Week and ASUN Player of the Week one time apiece last year. He started his collegiate career with two seasons of basketball at Division II Oklahoma Baptist before transferring to North Florida. 

LOOKING AT THE 2022-23 SEASON

• UNF is set to play 30 regular season games including 13 at home. The Ospreys play a 13-game non-conference ledger, with 18 league games lined up as the ASUN expanded to 14 teams.
• The Ospreys will play seven first-time opponents in Gonzaga, Washington, South Carolina State, Houston, Duquesne, Davis & Elkins and Atlantis.
• UNF also has Pittsburgh and Kentucky on the schedule for this year, marking the second-straight year UNF has taken on Kentucky.

CSI COMPANIES COURT

• North Florida men's basketball practiced away from its home court for all of the summer and much of the preseason as the UNF Arena was undergoing renovations that included the construction of the new CSI Companies Court. UNF didn't practice in its home gym until Oct. 24 and instead practiced at the UNF Fieldhouse adjacent to the gym, or at the Florida State College of Jacksonville (community college) across the street from campus. 
• The CSI Companies Court features a gray and navy look, with the state of Florida and UNF banner logo donning the center of the floor. UNF's location in Jacksonville is emphasized with a star located on the floor, while Osprey talons mark the sidelines. 
• The UNF Arena was also renovated with brand new lighting and sound system, as well as other aesthetic touch ups. The Bank of England Hospitality Suite is also nearing completion, providing a premier experience for donors.

NOTABLE

• Head coach Matthew Driscoll picked up his 200th-career win last year. He is the winningest coach in program history. 
• UNF had arguably the best blocking trio in the league last year, with three student-athletes averaging at least 0.9 blocks/game. Jadyn Parker led the way with 1.6, Dorian James swatted 1.1 per game and Jonathan Aybar blocked 0.9 shots per contest. Parker set the UNF single game blocks record with nine last season at Stetson.
• No stranger to tough schedules, UNF opened the year last year with a stretch of games against Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Grand Canyon, Arizona State and UCLA before playing a home game. The Ospreys played one home game before going back on the road to take on Kentucky.