After stepping into a challenging road-type environment in Charlotte to take down North Carolina the Florida Gators will have a much more comfortable setting back at home Saturday when they put their undefeated 11-0 record up against the North Florida Ospreys (7-5).
There are four teams that remain undefeated in college basketball–Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Drake, and the Gators have an opportunity to outlast some of those teams starting with a buy game against North Florida.
North Florida has been somewhat of a regular non-conference opponent for the Gators with the Ospreys more than willing to take the short trip from Jacksonville to Gainesville. A familiar face on the sideline is head coach Matthew Driscoll who has led the program since 2010–a remarkable tenure in today’s day and age. He has a distinct style and personality and you know what you’re going to get from the Ospreys every year and it has always been a fun opponent for the Gators.
Currently the Ospreys sit at 7-5, but with a team like North Florida you can never base much off their record given the fact that they have to play so many difficult buy games which usually mean losses.
Extra emphasis on the word “usually.”
You see, you might have seen North Florida in college basketball news early this season and they actually had arguably the best three-game stretch of any team in the country to open the year. On opening night they went on the road to South Carolina and won 74-71, doing what few opponents have been able to do this year in beating an SEC team. Just six days later they went on the road to Georgia Tech, knocking them off 105-93. Two road wins over high-major competition is the dream of any mid-major program, and given how few teams scheduled aggressively to start the season you actually could have argued in early November that the Ospreys had a top-25 resume that deserved AP votes, though of course it was in large part due to the small sample size.
Since then things have cooled off. They faced two more high-majors in Georgia and Nebraska and while they were able to stay competitive with the Bulldogs and lose by 13 they got hammered 103-72. They also took losses to UNC Asheville twice (in a rare home and home in the same season) and Georgia Southern, showing they probably aren’t the mid-major powerhouse some people expected after their early South Carolina and Georgia Tech wins.
South Carolina currently sits 66th in KenPom and Georgia Tech sits at 175th so these weren’t exactly marquee high-major opponents but they still have legit size and athleticism, though nothing quite like Florida is going to bring. The Gators will be far and away the most difficult challenge the Ospreys have faced so far and they’ll bring their unique style to try and play the upset game.
Under Matthew Driscoll the Ospreys have earned a fun nickname–the “Birds Of Trey.”
This is, of course, because they have always loved the three-point shot, and this year is no different. Currently the Ospreys (or, “Birds Of Trey,” if you prefer) are third in the country in three-point attempts and they have taken more threes than they have two-point attempts. This is a style they take into games with every opponent they face, but in a David and Goliath setting against the Gators they’re destined to try and take even more as they hope to get hot and put points on the board. Florida has done a great job limiting opponent three-point attempts so far this season so it will be an interesting test for them to now see a team who runs every action with the intention of creating a shot from beyond the arc.
Another staple of North Florida basketball is their unselfishness. With a style that’s all about creating catch and shoot threes they need to be a team full of players willing to move the ball and set great screens for their teammates and it has resulted in a situation where they have five players averaging between 12.0 points (Jaylen Smith) and 16.4 points (Josh Harris) with multiple players having led the team in scoring throughout the season.
In terms of the three-point attack Nate Lliteras (44%) and Liam Murphy (43%) have been the most deadly marksmen, but everyone on the floor for the Ospreys has the green light to fire and a number of guys can heat up in a hurry.
When you look at the biggest issue for North Florida it is their size in the frontcourt. Size is so difficult to get at the low and mid-major level, and instead of taking anyone who happens to be 6’8” or taller Coach Driscoll has leaned into his style of play and will always take skill over size if that size isn’t versatile and it has led to a very small lineup. Starting at center is 6’7”, 220 pound Liam Murphy, with 6’8”, 210 found freshman Josh Harris and 6’6”, 205 pound Jasai Miles also getting minutes at the five. North Florida will have major challenges on the interior defensively and when it comes to rebounding, but they’ll hope these smaller, skilled forwards can get some points back on the other end with their shooting.
After an emotional win over North Carolina the Gators will have to refocus for what will be a very different setting and opponent as they look to keep their record perfect.
Florida and North Florida tip off at noon ET on Saturday, December 21st and it will be televised on SEC Network.