GAME DETAILS
WHERE: United Supermarkets Arena
WHEN: 7:00 p.m. Tuesday
WATCH IT ON: ESPN +
SERIES HISTORY: This is the first ever matchup between Texas Tech and North Florida
What should we know about the Ospreys?
North Florida was picked to finish seventh in the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) preseason coaches poll and sixth in the preseason media poll. The Ospreys are returning four of five starters from a season ago.
North Florida head coach Matthew Driscoll enters his 13th season at the helm and has a career record of 192-194. Driscoll spent twelve years as an assistant at Baylor, Valparaiso, Clemson, and Wyoming before taking over at North Florida. Driscoll led the Ospreys to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2015 and has won 20-plus games in three different seasons as head coach.
The Ospreys went 8-15 in 2020 and were 6-6 in ASUN Conference play. North Florida averaged 69.6 points on 44.5 percent shooting and shot 36.6 percent from the three-point line.
The Ospreys open their 2021 campaign with back-to-back contests. After their upcoming game in Lubbock, North Florida will square off against Texas A&M in College Station the following night. The Ospreys will also play road games at Arizona State, UCLA, Kentucky, Florida, and Florida State as a part of their non-conference schedule this season.
While the Red Raiders have never faced North Florida in basketball, Texas Tech transfer Sardaar Calhoun squared off against the Ospreys last season while at Florida State. Calhoun had 8 points on 50 percent shooting (2-3PM), with 3 rebounds and 1 steal in just 15 minutes played.
Three Ospreys to keep an eye on:
1) Carter Hendricksen (6-foot-7, Forward)
Was named to the preseason Atlantic Sun All-Conference team this year and was a first team All-ASUN and ASUN Scholar-Athlete of the Year a season ago. Hendricksen led the Ospreys in scoring and was ranked fifth in the conference with 14.9 points per game. He was third in the conference in three-pointers made and finished 19th in rebounds. Hendricksen scored double digit points in 13 of the 16 games he played, while also leading the team with five games of 20 or more points, scoring a career high 24 against Liberty.
2) Jose Placer (6-foot-1, Guard)
Played in all 23 games a season ago, while earning 22 starts in his first year at North Florida. Placer averaged a team high 32.3 minutes per game and was second on the team and sixth in the conference in scoring at 14.5 points per game, while shooting 48.6 percent from the field. Placer also led the Ospreys with 48 three pointers made and was second on the team with 3.3 assists per game and added 2.7 rebounds per game. Placer was a second team Atlantic Sun All-Conference selection for his efforts a season ago.
3) Emmanuel Adedoyin (6-foot-2, Guard)
Started in 21 of 23 games and averaged 30.2 minutes per contest a season ago. Adedoyin led the Ospreys and was second in the ASUN conference in total assists and led the league in assists per game (4.1 APG). He was also second in the conference in three-point percentage, shooting the ball 44 percent from behind the arc. Adedoyin showed vast improvement last year, reaching double digit scoring in 10 games, dishing out a career best 9 assists twice, and tripled his points per game average from his freshman season in 2019-20.
Analyzing the matchup:
Basketball is finally here and while it could take this Texas Tech roster some time to fully gel and get used to playing off one another, they're loaded with talent and should make strides every time they take the court this season. North Florida was ranked 12th out of 350 division one basketball teams a season ago in three-point field goals per game, averaging 10 made threes per contest and ranked 50th in three-point percentage at 36.64 percent. The Red Raiders will have to be up to task of playing sound perimeter defense from the jump, with the Ospreys having little hesitation about letting shots go from deep. If the shots aren’t falling for North Florida, advantage Texas Tech as the Ospreys struggled on the boards last year, ranking 287th in the nation while pulling down only 32.74 rebounds per game. It’ll be a tough task on the defensive end for North Florida, who struggled at creating turnovers (329th in steals per game), to slow down the likes of Kevin McCullar, Kevin Obanor, and Bryson Williams on offense. You can practice all you want, but there’s no substitute for chemistry building quite like playing in an actual game, and it’ll be interesting to watch this group of Red Raiders grow as a team and improve throughout the season.
