Last week, the University of North Florida men’s basketball team split a pair of road games, defeating North Alabama on Thursday for its first Division One win of the season and losing to Central Arkansas on Saturday.

Behind a career-high 35 points from sophomore guard Kent Jackson, the last-place Ospreys controlled the game against Central Arkansas, pulling away late in the first half to give head coach Bobby Kennen his first Division One win and road win as a head coach. UNF passed the century mark for the third time this season, pummeling the Lions 105-91. 

Two days later, further west, the Ospreys were looking to build a winning streak and bring some momentum to their upcoming four-game homestand. Similar to the previous game, but in the opposite fashion, Central Arkansas pulled away from UNF, overpowering the Ospreys 98-69. 

Game One v.s. North Alabama

UNF took only three-pointers to start the game and it worked out in their favor, making four of its first six from beyond the arc. To no one’s surprise, three of the four made treys were from Jackson, who already had nine points less than five minutes into the game. 

Defensively, UNF allowed six to this point, doubling up the Lions. North Alabama answered, taking the 14-12 lead after four consecutive layups. The Ospreys kept feeding it to Jackson, who scored 14 of North Florida’s first 17 points. 

Trailing for over five minutes, UNF snatched the lead on a Kamrin Oriol three-pointer. From this point, UNA never led again. Tied at 28 with six minutes left in the first half, UNF went on its first major run, scoring 10 in a row.

Even though none of those points were from Jackson, he assisted on three of the buckets in that run. Now, UNF led by double-digits for the first time, 38-28. 

As a team, offensively, UNF was making it look easy, getting to the paint and beyond the arc. At halftime, UNF led 48-36, nearly on pace for 100 points. 

In the second half, UNF opened with the same offensive firepower they had in the first, if not more. UNF spaced the floor, passed the ball around, finding open players either near the basket or behind the three-point line.

UNF opened the final frame on a 7-1 run, assisting on all three made baskets. Oriol got the scoring started with a jumper, then Jackson found his sweet spot from downtown, and Mason Lee scored off a turnover. 

UNF continued its scoring barrage, extending its lead to over 20 points on a BJ Plummer coast-to-coast steal and score play. Jackson sank another three, giving UNF its largest lead, 67-45.

UNA attempted to come back, going on a 9-2 run following multiple points in the paint, but UNF always had a response. With its advantage trimmed to 15, UNF followed with seven-straight points, pushing its lead past 20.

Nestor Dyachok was a major part of this run with a tip-in layup, dunk, and one free throw. After UNF called a timeout, up by 16 points, Kent Jackson scored North Florida’s next eight points. 

This extended North Florida’s lead back to 20 points, 87-67. During this run, Jackson passed 30 total points. While UNA reduced the lead to 13, the Ospreys passed the 100 mark when the Lions began to foul UNF, hoping to take advantage of missed free throws. 

Game Two v.s. Central Arkansas

Once again, Jackson led all Ospreys in scoring, but the result was far different. 

UNF struggled nightly in the first half, especially midway through, allowing Central Arkansas to outscore them 26-8 in the final 10 minutes before halftime. The Sugar Bears made three of their next four from downtown. Across the court, UCA was holding UNF scoreless, forcing multiple misses when UNF was trying to come back. 

With just over four minutes left until the break, UNF was already trailing by 17, 40-23. To pull off a memorable comeback or at least make this game respectable, the Ospreys needed to prevent UCA from running away with this one. 

However, UNF didn’t keep this game close. In fact, the Ospreys went scoreless for the final four-plus minutes while allowing Central Arkansas to run the show offensively. Halfway through, UNF trailed 50-23. 

Despite showing signs of life offensively in the second half, UNF continued to struggle defensively, surrendering 48 second-half points. When half number two commenced, it was more of the same for the defenseless Ospreys. 

Central Arkansas led by as much as 42 points and while UNF shrank the lead to under 30, the result was already predictable. By the rim, Central Arkansas dominated the boards and paint, outrebounding UNF 45-30, including 15-7 in offensive rebounds, which gave the Sugar Bears 15 more shot attempts. 

Statistically, Central Arkansas had 18 more paint points, 15 additional fast-break points, and 12 more assists. Essentially, this was a game to forget for UNF. 

Nearly all of the Ospreys’ starters had low point totals or low shooting percentages. Thankfully, for UNF, this only counts as one loss. 

With this result, UNF drops to 1-5 in the ASUN and Central Arkansas improves to 4-2 in the conference standings.

UNF will return to Jacksonville for a four-game homestand starting with Eastern Kentucky on Thursday, Jan. 22. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. inside UNF Arena.

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