JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida men's basketball wraps up its first conference weekend with a home game against Lipscomb Saturday, Jan. 4 at 2 p.m.

GAME DETAILS
Who | North Florida vs. Lipscomb
What | Weekend-ending matchup 
When | Saturday, Jan. 4 at 2 p.m.
Where | UNF Arena
Coverage | ESPN+

Projected Starters
Sophomore, Guard | Jaylen Smith
Senior, Guard | Oscar Berry 
Sophomore, Guard | Jasai Miles
Senior, Guard | Nate Lliteras
Freshman, Forward | Josh Harris

Coach Driscoll on The Upcoming Game
"The beauty in basketball is that you get to wash the loss out quickly and get on the court with an opportunity to compete immediately. Every league game is so vital to the grand scheme of the Atlantic Sun standings, however nothing is more important than the game in front of you. Lipscomb has been the favorite since the preseason polls were released, having the 42nd-most experienced team in the country according to KenPom, creating our next challenge at the end of this first home stretch. Defensively, Lipscomb really swarms the ball and prevents your ability to put the ball on the floor on the offensive side. The Bison are a lot like us and are very efficient, with a multitude of ways to score inside and out."

Last Time Out
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Five Ospreys posted double-digit scoring efforts and UNF (7-7, 0-1 ASUN) held the upper hand for much of the contest, but an Austin Peay push down the stretch allowed the Governors to win in a 97-89 loss to the Governors (6-8, 1-0 ASUN).

Scouting the Opponent
Lipscomb was tabbed to finish first in the Atlantic Sun Conference Preseason Coaches poll … the Bison are 9-5 and 1-0 in Atlantic Sun play … Lipscomb is coming off a five-point win against Jacksonville … Jacob Ognacevic is pacing the Bison with 18.6 points per game and 7.3 rebounds per contest … Lipscomb is outscoring opponents by 11 points per game … Will Pruitt and JU transfer Gyasi Powell are posting 10.8 points per game.

Series History
North Florida and Lipscomb are meeting for the 38th time … the last time the two teams met was Jan. 31, 2024 when the Ospreys took care of Lipscomb, 85-76 … UNF is 10-7 against Lipscomb at home and 9-11 on the road … UNF's largest margin of victory against Lipscomb was an 82-61 win Jan. 4, 2012.

Non-Conference Recap
North Florida finished the non-conference slate, 7-6, with two of those wins coming against Power Four teams … North Florida matched its entire win total against P4 teams in just one week to start off the season … UNF was tabbed NCAA Team of the Week as a result after adding in a dominant 90-66 win against Charleston Southern … it was UNF's best start through non-conference play since playing to an 11-6 mark in non-conference play back in 2015-16.

Atop the League
UNF ranks second in the league in assist/turnover ratio (1.51), assists per game (16.5), fastbreak points per game (12.07), third in rebounds per game (37.5), scoring offense (84.9), three-pointers per game (13.2) and bench points per game (27.93) … UNF still leads the nation in three-point attempts per game and three-pointers pre game.

Atlantic Sun Awards
Josh Harris, Jaylen Smith and Jasai Miles have all earned all-league honors so far this season … Harris was tabbed as ASUN Newcomer of the Week, while Smith and Miles have both earned their first-career all-league honors.

Just the Fourth Time Ever
Miles' 30-point and 11-rebound performance against Georgia Southern was just the fourth-ever 30-point and 10-board performance in UNF history, and the first since Carter Hendricksen did so in 2023 at Central Arkansas. 

Smith Taking the Reigns
Jaylen Smith has taken the reigns at the point position and dished out a conference-leading 80 assists this season … his 2.11 assist/turnover ratio also leads the league, as does his 5.7/assists per game average.

Dishing Out Dimes
North Florida went for a DI-era program record 33 assists against Edward Waters … the Ospreys scored 20 three-pointers in the win, one shy of a program record … sophomore guard Jaylen Smith had nine assists in the win.

History at UNF
North Florida's start to the 2024-25 has been a historic one, with the Ospreys earning their first-ever wins against an SEC foe and ACC foe in the same week. UNF's Power Four victories in the opening week matched the program's all-time record for wins against Power Four programs. Thanks to the wins against South Carolina and Georgia Tech, along with a 24-point win against Charleston Southern, North Florida earned 14 votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, a first for the Ospreys. North Florida also earned a spot at No. 10 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll … UNF's 3-0 start is its best to begin a season since 2015-16 … North Florida is the first-ever team to defeat two Power Five teams on the road in opening weekend.

Freshman Phenom
Freshman Josh Harris has put his abilities on display early on in the season … the forward notched 23 points against Charleston Southern and poured in 22 at Georgia Tech. His 16.3 points per game scoring average was the highest by any UNF freshman in the program's DI era through three games. He also broke the 20-point marker ahead of any previous UNF freshman during that era. His 23-point game against Charleston Southern was the most by a UNF freshman since Wajid Aminu had 24 in 2016 … Nov. 29 he added 20 points and nine boards at SIUE.

The Familiar Faces 
North Florida men's basketball returns five players, all of which started the majority of last year's games or have been a starter throughout their collegiate career … Nate Lliteras started the most games among all returners, tallying 31 starts in 31 contests while averaging 10.4 points per game, the most among returning players … Jaylen Smith was thrust into the starting point guard position last year after junior guard Ametri Moss suffered a season-ending injury at the start of league play … the lefty guard out of Ocoee, Fla., went on to earn all-freshman honors from the conference … Oscar Berry is the most veteran Osprey in the Navy and Gray this year, having played two years with UNF after starting out his collegiate career at Fairleigh-Dickinson … after making his first collegiate start not far from home in Coral Gables last December, now-sophomore Jasai Miles returns after making 19 starts and averaging 5.7 points per game.

Rundown on the Newcomers
UNF's roster features eight newcomers, not including redshirt-freshman Mason Lee who sat last year out after joining UNF from nearby Providence School of Jacksonville … four are true freshmen, including Josh Harris, Arden Begaj, Taylor Thompson and Dante Oliver … the other four newcomers bring in significant experience as transfers, two of which have already earned degrees in Liam Murphy and Nestor Dyachok … Murphy put up 12 points and seven boards a game at Columbia as a freshman, while Dyachok scored over nine points per game for Southern Utah … Alex Vargo joins the Ospreys by way of Garrett College, scoring over 26 points per game while lighting up Southern Maryland for 47 in a single contest … he started his collegiate career at Youngstown State after scoring 1,634 points at Wheeling Park HS … sharpshooter Kamrin Oriol comes back to his home state of Florida after earning league freshman of the year honors in 2022-23 … he was named conference player of the week once last season.