On Tuesday night the Ospreys of North Florida headed west from Jacksonville to the O’dome to take on the Florida Gators. This one came easy for the Gators as they knocked down threes with ease and tied NCAA records in the process of a 98-66 victory.
Since tip off, Mike White‘s team had it rolling. In the first half Florida had a lot of success on the offensive glass which opened up many three point opportunities. The Gators made seven three-pointers in the first 20 minutes. At the half, Florida opened up a 53-33 lead which essentially put the game away.
From then on White was able to open up playing time for the deep bench as ten Gators played over ten minutes, which resulted in 42 bench points. The aggressiveness of the offensive glass was the game plan UF stuck to in the second half. Florida finished the game with 15 offensive rebounds and 42 total boards.
The most intriguing part of Florida’s performance against UNF was their ability to consistently knock down treys. In doing so, UF tied an NCAA record with nine different players making a shot from downtown. The last time that feat had been accomplished was in 2008 by Michigan. Florida also previously set the mark in 2006.
Freshman shooting guard Noah Locke lead the way finishing 4/7 from three point land and 18 total points, a career high. UNF Head Coach Matt Driscoll had a lot to say about the Gators aggressive offensive play saying the following in the postgame press conference;
“What they really do a good job of is getting the three off the offensive rebound. How many offensive rebound kick out threes did they have tonight? That’s the most dangerous three you can have. They had nineteen second chance points. How many of them were threes? I’m going to guess five, maybe six. When you have that going for you, it’s double dangerous. Anybody who makes a three is always good and it’s always fun and makes you feel good.”
The Gators were able to dominate offensively in this one and the Ospreys could not stop it at all. Florida will celebrate this win and climb back above .500 on the season. Mike White now sits at 4-3 heading into the month of December.
Notable Stats:
Florida: 98
Stone- 10 points, 4 rebounds
Hayes- 12 points, 5 rebounds
Nembhard- 11 assists, 0 turnovers
Allen- 13 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds
Locke- 18 points
Hudson- 6 points, 6 rebounds
K. Johnson- 11 points, 4 rebounds
Ballard- 15 points
North Florida: 66
Horchler- 16 points, 10 rebounds
Escobar- 11 points
Gandia-Rosa- 13 points, 4 assists
Sams- 15 points