JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida (7-4) took a double-digit lead with 6:54 to go in the first half and that advantage never dropped to single digits the rest of the way as the Ospreys ran away with an 89-77 win against UNC Greensboro (5-5) Saturday, Dec. 14.
Of the six Ospreys that scored five tallied double-digit scoring performances, paced by
Jaylen Smith's career-best 21 points. UNF dished out 23 assists while committing just seven turnovers in a victory on Coach Driscoll's 60th birthday.
FINAL SCORE
UNCG | 77
UNF | 89
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
1st Half
UNF held a 17-16 lead after two media timeouts, with
Josh Harris,
Jaylen Smith and
Nate Lliteras lining up three-pointers in a back-and-forth first eight minutes … UNF went on a 9-3 run to take a 26-19 advantage at the under-eight media timeout … Lliteras' 10 points fueled UNF early … UNF found a groove, going on a 14-3 run to take a 33-19 lead … Smith made it a 40-23 lead for the Ospreys with a three-pointer from the top of the key … Lliteras finished the half with 13 points and UNF shot 44.7 percent from the field as the Ospreys held a 46-32 lead at the break.
2nd Half
Both teams shot an efficient clip over the first as UNF held a 54-41 lead at the 15:44 mark … UNCG hung around, but with each blow UNF answered to maintain a double-digit lead through the second media timeout of the second session …
Liam Murphy expanded UNF's lead back to 14 after the under-eight media timeout with a banked-in three-pointer … Murphy brought rain from a three-pointer taken at the logo to get the lead back to 76-62 … Lliteras assisted on a three-pointer and scored one to bring UNF to a 19-point lead at the under-three media timeout … North Florida's lead didn't drop to single digits the rest of the way.
BY THE NUMBERS
UNC Greensboro
- Donovan Atwell | 27 points, 6 rebounds
- Malik Henry | 12 points
- Miles Jones | 10 rebounds
North Florida
NOTABLES
- It was the first-ever meeting between the two teams
- Saturday's game was a part of the ASUN/SoCon Challenge
- It was UNF's fifth game against a mid-major program this season
- It was UNF's final home game of the non-conference slate
- Five Ospreys reached double-digit scoring
- Smith has reached at least six assists in six-straight games
POST GAME
UP NEXT
UNF goes to UNC Asheville for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off against the Bulldogs Tuesday, Dec. 17.
