Another first for North Florida basketball: Ospreys (3-0) receive votes and points in AP poll

The University of North Florida men’s basketball team added another milestone on Monday.

When the AP Top 25 weekly poll was released, the Ospreys received votes and points for the first time in program history. It wasn’t enough to crack the top-25 so UNF is in the “also receiving votes” category.

But the Ospreys tied Oregon and Miami for 37th with 14 points and are ahead of teams such as Clemson, Wisconsin, Providence, Maryland, Arizona State and Michigan.

University of North Florida men’s basketball coach Matthew Driscoll has guided his team to a 3-0 record to start the season, including victories over South Carolina and Georgia Tech.

On the strength of a 3-0 start, including victories over South Carolina and Georgia Tech, UNF received votes from five pollsters, including Mia O’Brien of 1010XL, one of Jacksonville’s sports radio stations.

O’Brien, Dave Borges of the New Haven (Conn.) Register, David Jablonski of the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News and Jeff Borzello of ESPN Long Island voted UNF No. 25.

Mike Hlas of the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette might not have to buy his own beer if he happened into a bar frequented by UNF student this week, because he had the Ospreys ranked 16th.

One other ASUN team received one point, Austin Peay.

What happened in the Ospreys’ opening week

North Florida beat South Carolina 74-71 to open the season on Nov. 4, won its home opener 90-66 over Charleston Southern, then beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta on Sunday, 105-93. UNF won over an SEC and ACC opponent for the first time and doubled the total of victories ever against Power Four conference opponents.

The Ospreys are second in the ASUN in scoring with 89.7 points per game. Four players are inside the top-15 individually, Jasai Miles (16.7, 7th), Josh Harris (16.3, 9th), Liam Murphy (14.3, 13th) and Jaylen Smith (14.0, 15th).

Murphy is second in the ASUN in 3-point percentage at 57.9 (11 of 15).

The Ospreys will play at Georgia on Tuesday at 7 p.m. They return home on Nov. 18 to play UNC-Asheville…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/another-first-north-florida-basketball-004703126.html

Author : The Florida Times-Union

Publish date : 2024-11-12 00:47:00

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