JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For the second consecutive game the North Florida basketball team was deadly from long distance as the Ospreys connected on a program record matching 17 three-pointers en route to a 106-84 victory over UT Rio Grande Valley in their home opener Monday night at UNF Arena.
With the win, UNF improves to 2-0 on the season marking the first time since the 2005-06 campaign that the team has opened with back-to-back victories. The final point total marked the 26th time in program history that UNF has eclipsed the century mark but just the third time in the Division I era.
Junior Chris Davenport finished with 26 points to lead a trio of Osprey players with 20 or more as junior Dallas Moore added 23 and senior Trent Mackey tacked on 21. Davenport and Mackey each missed matching career highs by a single point.
Moore, who also posted his second consecutive double-double after handing out a career high matching 10 assists, became the 11th member of North Florida's 1,000 Point Club with a driving lay-up late in the second half. He now has scored 1,002 points in just over two seasons.
Davenport narrowly missed a double-double of his own finishing with nine rebounds while senior Demarcus Daniels led the squad with 10 boards and also added nine points and a pair of blocked shots.
As a team, UNF recorded 21 assists on 37 baskets and shot 53 percent from beyond the arc making 17 of 32 attempts. Six different players connected on treys led by Mackey with six while Davenport was a perfect 3-for-3 from the arc.
"I thought the guys really started the game in a flow," said head coach Matthew Driscoll, who picked up his 98th career win at UNF equaling the program record held by former coach Matt Kilcullen. "We again did a great job of sharing the ball and with the quality shooters on this team we are tough to guard when we move the ball. Our offense is good but I was hoping to see us get some more defensive stops tonight so that is something we need to continue to work on. It was great to be home and the crowd was awesome in helping us celebrate the banners from last season."
The Vaqueros (0-2) held their only lead of the game after scoring the first basket before UNF answered with seven straight and never looked back in a dominating first half exhibition. The Ospreys led by double digits, 16-4, just three minutes into play and held a lead of 20 or more points for most of the opening frame.
Davenport scored 20 points in the first half going 8-of-8 from the field with three treys as UNF held a 61-34 advantage at the break. The Ospreys shot a blistering 61 percent from the floor and made 11 treys in the period.
The two sides traded baskets in an uptempo battle early in the second half as UTRGV pulled to within 18 just over five minutes into play. The Ospreys would answer back and push their lead to as many as 29 (101-72) before closing out the game for the final margin.
A trio of players made their collegiate debuts for UNF as redshirts Karlos Odum, Osborn Blount and Ismaila Dauda all got in the lineup during the closing minutes. Blount and Dauda each netted their first Osprey points as well.
North Florida concludes its brief home stand Wednesday against Edward Waters at 7 p.m. in UNF Arena.