The Flames (15-4, 4-0) have 4 of its next 5 games at home, but they will all put Liberty’s perfect 8-0 home record to the test. The homestand begins Saturday night when the Flames welcome North Florida (9-10, 3-1) to the Vines Center for a 7pm tip.
The Ospreys were picked 4th in the preseason ASUN poll, behind Lipscomb, FGCU, and Liberty, but with FGCU’s struggles and NJIT starting just 1-2 in conference play, North Florida may be the team to beat as 3rd best in the league behind the Flames and Bisons. At 3-1, the Ospreys are just 1 game behind both LUs in a tie for 3rd place with surprising North Alabama.
10th year head coach Matt Driscoll has built UNF into one of the better programs in the ASUN. They repeated as regular season champs in 2015 and 2016 and have finished no worse than a 4th place tie in the ASUN standings over the past 5 seasons. During that time period, the Ospreys have advanced to the NIT and NCAA tournament.
“Matt Driscoll is the longest tenured coach in the ASUN,” Coach McKay said of the Ospreys’ head man. “The fact that he’s done it for so long at one place is a credit to him as a coach and the program that he leads.”
This season, North Florida played a tough non-conference schedule, with games against Florida, Florida State, Auburn, Minnesota, Dayton, and Penn State. They have begun conference play with wins over North Alabama, FGCU, and Stetson with their only ASUN loss coming at Lipscomb, 81-66, on January 9th.
“North Florida is good,” Coach McKay said. “They have a really good team. They are proficient offensively. We will have to be good on the defensive end to combat that.”
Noah Horchler leads a balanced attack for the Ospreys. The 6’8″, 210 pound junior is 6th in the conference in scoring and leads the league in rebounding, his 9.9 boards per game are just ahead of Scottie James’ 8.8. Horchler is also 4th in the league in field goal percentage, shooting 57.9% from the field. Horchler and junior guard Ivan Gandia-Rosia were both named to the ASUN preseason all-conference team. Gandia-Rosia, a 6’1″, 190 pound junior guard, is averaging 10.2 points per game and shooting 42.1% from 3.
The entire starting lineup is comprised of juniors and all 5 average double figure scoring. 6’7″, 195 pound forward Garrett Sams is 2nd on the team, averaging 12.3 points per game. 6’2″, 183 pound guard JT Escobar is averaging 11.4 points per game, and 6’7″, 190 pound forward Wajid Aminu averages 10.2.
North Florida boasts the 3rd best scoring team in the ASUN, averaging 76.9 points per game, and only trails Lipscomb and Liberty in the category. The Ospreys shoot a lot of three’s, ranking 2nd to Liberty in 3-point field goals made this season. On defense, UNF is 8th in the ASUN, allowing 78.9 points per game.
“They have the freedom to shoot 3s like we do,” said McKay of UNF. “That’s part of their DNA as a program. They want to get a lot of 3s up. They also have players that are really good around the basket – the guard line are good finishers and in the post they have a few guys that can score.”
