UNF Basketball Thread: 2015-16 Season

[spuwho]

UNF 97 - Stetson 79

Ospreys open the A Sun schedule with a victory down in Deland.

A 15-2 run with 6 minutes left opened the game up for UNF.

Chris Davenport came 1 assist away from a triple double.

[ProjectMaximus]

Good stuff. I'm expecting a strong conference campaign. I think anything short of regular season champ will be a letdown. 

[spuwho]

UNF's recent wins and with Illinois upsetting #20 Purdue today has helped them fare well in the College Basketball RPI Index.

UNF now has a RPI of 132, which is 30 points better than when they went into the NCAA First Four last year.

Beating Eastern Michigan (RPI 97) on the road has helped improve that score.

If Illinois (who UNF beat)  continues to improve their Big 10 play, this will help the Ospreys even more.

ESPN Bracketology still shows them as a 15 seed (not a play in).

The Atlantic Sun had a mild upset last night as USC-U beat new conference member NJIT @ NJIT.

Relatively speaking, none of the other A-Sun teams have as brutal a road schedule as the Ospreys do.

[spuwho]

This message went out to people who attended the UNF - JU game.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I wanted to personally reach out and thank you for attending last Saturday's River City Rumble men's basketball game against Jacksonville University.  You helped set a record for the largest regular season game crowd, and witnessed our fifth straight men's basketball victory over JU!  We are undefeated at home this season, and hope that your support will continue as we move through the remainder of conference play.

Our men's basketball program has six more regular season Atlantic Sun Conference home games left and I would love to see you in UNF Arena again, encouraging the Ospreys with the same enthusiasm and energy!   I do encourage you to purchase tickets in advance at the link below that is connected directly to our ticket site.

Men's Basketball Ticket Link: http://bit.ly/OspreyMBBTix

Additionally, I wanted to make you aware of a free event we will be hosting at UNF Arena on Thursday, February 25th to watch the next River City Rumble on the brand new videoboard.  UNF plays at JU that night, and there are limited tickets available due to the small capacity of Swisher Gym, so we will be hosting our first-ever UNF Arena Watch Party.  More detailed information will be released in the near future on UNFOspreys.com and via our social media accounts.  Finally, the UNF Bookstore at the Student Union will be open until 6:30pm prior to every home game.  A team store will also be set up in the Arena lobby.  Stop by and pick up the latest Ospreys gear.

Thanks again for all of your support and Go Ospreys!

Lee Moon
Athletic Director

[Dapperdan]

Looks like they may breeze through the A -Sun this year. I see no other teams that pose any danger whatsoever. Unless they have a total mental breakdown, they should win every game.

[spuwho]

UNF 82 - FGCU 76

This game was the biggest challenge UNF has had in the A-Sun so far. FGCU was leading most of the first half. UNF finally got an 11 point bulge going with 5 minutes left with some out of this world plays and stratospheric 3 pointers, but they didnt use the clock well after that looking for the quick release 3's instead. FGCU whittled the lead down to 2 with less than a minute left. But UNF held up to the press and fouls and FGCU couldnt convert a shot and the Ospreys came out with the win.

Beau Beech was on fire and some chippy defense by FGCU tried to hold him back but failed. On one possession I saw Beau's jersey pulled up to his nose by the defender. No whistle on that one, but was typical of the evening.

Large crowd at UNF arena tonight, the announced crowd was    around 4k, but I couldnt hear the details. Lots of FGCU fans came up from Fort Myers for the game.

[spuwho]

UNF 82 - Stetson 86

The Ospreys not only lose their first A-Sun game of the season, but also break their home winning streak of 12 games dating back to last year.

While UNF beat the Hatters down in Deland by 18 last month, this time the Hatters were prepared and had a solid defense against the Ospreys.

Stetson took a nice lead in the first half before a 10 point run by UNF cut it to 4.  A 19-9 run by UNF to start the second half pushed them out to a 11 point lead, but it didn't last as once again, the Osprey's kept pulling the quick trigger three's and Stetson worked their way back to take a lead with 2 minutes left. Dallas Moore's incredible drives kept the Osprey's close and down by only 2 with 12 seconds left, but Nick Malonga missed the front end of a 1 and 1 with 8 seconds left and UNF fouled the rebound.

Probably the biggest stat was the fact that Stetson held guard Trent Mackey to zero 3 pointers. The first time all season this has happened. The Ospreys are 15-2 when Mackey scores at least (3) three pointers.

[copperfiend]

JU is only a game back now. How cool would it be if the ASun final was JU/UNF?

[tufsu1]

UNF 82 - Stetson 86

The Ospreys not only lose their first A-Sun game of the season, but also break their home winning streak of 12 games dating back to last year.

You can blame Dan Hicken for that

[Dapperdan]

They played poorly aginsyt FGCU as well.  JU played both teams way better. I think JU at this current moment is the better team and would win.

[spuwho]

UNF 65 - FGCU 81

UNF fell into a tie in the A-Sun (with JU) with their road loss to FGCU tonight.  It is clear the Osprey's are reeling.

The game started out terrible as FGCU blasted out to a 22-6 lead, but Beau Beech knocked a long range three and that got them on a roll to a 1 point lead at the half.

But the Osprey's totally fell apart in the 2nd half and allowed FGCU a 11-2 run which they never could recover from. The entire team (except for Dallas Moore) racked up the fouls. Davenport, Mackey, Beech, Odum all had 4 fouls and Daniels fouled out.  The Osprey's also suffered at 3 point range as they were 10-35, way below their average.

Since JU beat Stetson tonight, this puts even more pressure on the Ospreys when they face JU at the Swisher Center in the season finale on February 25th.  But with 2 consecutive losses now, most are getting concerned the Ospreys are going to finish the season.

As a fairly consistent watcher of the Osprey's, I point to a spot with 7 minutes left in the snow delayed game with NJIT up in New Jersey.  Up by 23 at that point, they mysteriously began a slow and methodical mental release that survived a couple of Driscoll timeouts as NJIT whittled it down. If NJIT had 2 more minutes, they would have probably won.

While they did beat FGCU at UNF last week, they still didn't seem to be "in their game" periodically.

So either teams have been watching their film of UNF and prepping their defenses well, or perhaps the Osprey's are suffering a wave of the flu bug going around Jax these days.  Anyway you look at it, these losses are surprising (especially the Stetson loss @ home)

Lets hope they can find themselves mentally again and refocus on winning the A-Sun Regular season. Clearly something has them by the feathers.

[copperfiend]

You have to give Jasick a ton of credit for what he has done at JU in just two seasons.

[spuwho]

UNF 91 - Kennesaw State 101

The UNF Ospreys continue their A-Sun meltdown and fall back into a continued tie for first place with a resounding thud by losing on the road to Kennesaw State up in Marietta, GA tonight.

Since JU was upset by Lipscomb 93-92 as well this evening, this keeps the Ospreys tied.

With Kennesaw State just a game above last place USC-Upstate in the A-Sun, this loss by the Osprey's continues the head scratching on what is really going on with this team.

UNF now has lost to 2 teams (Stetson and Kennesaw) that don't have the same level of talent or experience as the Ospreys do.

The losses have dropped UNF in the NCAA bracketology back to play-in status (if they can still win the tourney, that is)

[Downtown Osprey]

I realize they are in a slump but this has been an on-going theme. They can't defense at ALL. So frustrating.

[CCMjax]

The losses have dropped UNF in the NCAA bracketology back to play-in status (if they can still win the tourney, that is)

"Play-in status" . . . . . and if you win you have the thumping by the No. 1 seed to look forward to.  Not a position you want to be in, but you have to start somewhere.  It can start with simple recognition.