North Florida Ospreys
Atlantic Sun (23-11, 12-2)
North Florida struggled through a tough non-conference slate. They hit the road 11 times prior to the beginning of A-Sun play and won just two games. One was against Florida A&M, but the other was against Purdue team that would eventually turn into a great squad. But their best basketball was still to come. The Ospreys dominated the A-Sun. Their only two losses came against USC Upstate. But, of course, it would be the Spartans they would have to face again with an NCAA Tournament bid on the line. This time UNF got the best of USC Upstate and won 63-57.
Big Wins: 12/6 at Purdue (73-70), 2/25 at FGCU (76-62), 3/8 vs USC Upstate (63-57)
Bad Losses: 12/15 Tennessee Tech (84-87), 12/29 at Tennessee Tech (84-87), 12/31 at Austin Peay (60-65)
Coach: Matthew Driscoll
Why They Can Surprise:
The Ospreys are full of shooters. Few teams take more three-point attempts and they connect on 39.1 percent of those attempts. Dallas Moore, Beau Beech and Trent Mackey are all prolific outside shooters. Moore is the team’s most dynamic scorer, averaging 15.9 points per game. He attacks the basket effectively and knocks down 39.5 percent of his attempts from long range. With his size and shooting ability, Beech, a 6-8 wing, is a tough matchup for most opposing defenders. Mackey takes almost all of his shots from long range and is a great sparkplug off of the bench. Jalen Nesbitt rounds out the backcourt. He is a good enough shooter to keep the opposition honest, but Nesbitt does most of his scoring damage in the paint.
Why They Can Disappoint:
The frontcourt rotates between forwards Chris Davenport and Demarcus Daniels and center Romelo Banks. Both Davenport and Daniels are capable shooters who can stretch the defense. Those two can take advantage when the defense starts worrying too much about defending the shooters on the perimeter. Banks is the big body in the paint. His playing time has been erratic at best, but Banks needs to play some major minutes in the NCAA Tournament if North Florida wants to be able to compete with a bigger, tougher team.
Probable Starters:
Dallas Moore, Sophomore, Guard, 15.9 ppg, 3.6 apg
Jalen Nesbitt, Senior, Guard, 10.8 ppg, 3.4 apg, 5.6 rpg
Beau Beech, Junior, Forward, 12.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg
Chris Davenport, Sophomore, Forward, 11.5 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.0 bpg
Romelo Banks, Sophomore, Center, 5.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg
Key Roleplayers:
Demarcus Daniels, Junior, Forward, 9.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.8 bpg
Trent Mackey, Junior, Guard, 8.9 ppg, 1.4 apg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 75.7 (24th in nation, 1st in conference)
Scoring Defense: 67.8 (215, 3)
Field-Goal Percentage: 46.9 (39, 1)
Field-Goal Defense: 43.2 (187, 3)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 9.1 (12, 1)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 39.1 (23, 1)
Free-Throw Percentage: 72.4 (64, 2)
Rebound Margin: 0.6 (167, 3)
Assists Per Game: 14.4 (59, 2)
Turnovers Per Game: 12.3 (144, 3)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
No Tournament History
*all team stats through 3/8
See All Men’s Basketball Postseason Capsules
