The UNF men’s and women’s basketball teams are wrapping up their first month of play, with both squads trending in different directions. 

The men’s team is currently 4-4 overall and holds a 3-1 record at the nest. Despite playing well at times, the Ospreys will look to be more consistent going into ASUN play in January. 

After starting the 2023 campaign with a sound win over Coastal Georgia, the Ospreys split two road games in South Carolina. Sitting at 2-1, the Ospreys rekindled at home for their first-ever round-robin tournament at UNF Arena. 

UNF won two of three in the First Coast Classic, hoisting an invisible trophy by having a winning record to start the season. 

This has been a rare occurrence for the Ospreys, given they usually open the season facing top programs such as Texas Tech in 2021 and Gonzaga in 2022. This usually leads to a less-than-ideal record early on such as starting 0-5 in 2021 and 1-4 in 2022. 

Following the Classic, UNF, the smaller program, dropped a game to LSU, the bigger program, 75-63, which is not a bad loss given the size of LSU’s $2.8 million basketball budget. 

Chaz Lanier (16.3) and Jah Nze (10.1) are the only two Ospreys averaging double-digit point totals. 

The Ospreys continued their respectable non-conference slate by facing Iowa, losing 78-103. UNF now has an upcoming four-game home stand where they face High Point, Edward Waters, Georgia Southern and Trinity Baptist, all at the nest. 

On the flip side, the UNF women’s basketball team has had a rough start to begin the season. They currently hold a meager 2-6 record, with their only two wins being against lower-division NAIA teams. 

The UNF women have struggled to keep up with scoring, losing games 85-75 to Georgia Southern, 60-73 to USC Upstate and 75-84 to FAU. Before Wednesday’s 68-51 win over Warner University, the Ospreys held a five-game losing streak, which speaks to UNF’s early season miscues. 

The Ospreys are currently shooting at a low 41.3% clip, below the average of around 45%. UNF is also averaging 17 turnovers per game, and averaging over 10 is less than ideal.

In the Ospreys’ defense, UNF has only played three home games so far this season. Like the men’s team, North Florida will try to use this upcoming month of games to improve their record.   

The women’s squad will look to bounce back from their slow start as five of their six remaining non-conference games are against fellow mid-major programs, which means programs outside of the leading seven basketball conferences. 

Hoping to use this opportunity to stack up wins, the UNF women’s team will play against Saint Joseph’s Saturday at 12 p.m., and the men face High Point at home on Saturday at 2 p.m..

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