Box Score (PDF) | Box Score (HTML)

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Kennesaw State men's basketball team could not keep up with a hot-shooting North Florida as the Ospreys utilized the three-point line to down the Owls 86-45 Saturday evening at the UNF Arena.
 
How it Happened: The Ospreys started off hot with two straight three-pointers, sparking a 12-0 run to open the game. Bryson Lockley finally halted the run with a layup at the 15:42 mark. The Owls and Ospreys proceeded to trade buckets, but UNF continued to hit from distance, going 7-of-13 from three-point range, to pull away from KSU and lead 33-10 with eight minutes left in the half.
 
Lockley and Obineke attempted to pull the Owls back into it combining for six of the Owls' seven points down the stretch and finishing the half with six points each. UNF kept the Owls at bay, outscoring KSU 19-7 and finishing the half with nine made three-pointers.
 
Pietro Agostini and Antonio Spencer breathed some life into the Owls with back-to-back buckets to open the second half and pull KSU within 52-21, but UNF responded with three-pointers on its next three possessions to quell the momentum.
 
Lockley heated up in the second half, scoring nine of his 15 total points in the period, including a stretch of six straight, before fouling out with 7:49 to play. The Owls stepped it up defensively in the second half, limiting UNF to four three-pointers, but could not break through as the Ospreys answered each KSU bucket shooting 44 percent from the field compared to 35 percent for KSU.
 
Notes: Lockley's 15 points marks his seventh game in double-figures this season … Tyler Hooker had his 11-game double-digit streak snapped, finishing with six points … Lockley and Antonio Spencer led the team with six rebounds each while C.J. Washington tied his career-high with five … UNF finished with 13 made three-pointers.
 
Quotes: Head Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim
On the game…
"This was a really humbling trip. You play two teams with championship pedigree and they are relentless, they smell blood and they go after you. It was a humbling trip. For this game, I thought there were some areas, like to start the game, where we just didn't have really good energy and that's hard to overcome, especially when you're playing a team like North Florida because Coach Driscoll does a great job of getting his guys ready to go and they are not going to play down and play to the level of any competition. They are going to fight and do the things that they do, and that's where we can learn from what they do. I thought our transition defense was poor, I thought our communication was poor, I thought our toughness was really poor. It's like I said to the guys after the game, we need to be more grateful for the opportunities that we get to play this game because they are a lot of people who would love to be in their position and at the same time too you only get so many opportunities, none of this is promised. So to be able to take advantage of each game, each time you get a chance to step between the lines, it should be one of those thing that you cherish and the truth of it is we don't really cherish the opportunities. We need to get to a point where we start cherishing those opportunities and go from there because if not, then the same result is going to continue to happen."
 
Up Next: The Owls return to the Convocation Center to host Lipscomb Saturday (Feb. 8) in their annual Pink Day game slated for 4:30 p.m.