By: Jordan Harirchi, Assistant News Editor
UNF finished its four-game road swing with two road games Jan. 28 and Jan. 30. The Ospreys went 1-1 over the weekend. The Ospreys (11-13, 5-6 Atlantic Sun) headed over to Nashville, Tenn., to wallop the Lipscomb Bison (11-12, 6-5 A-Sun) 71-59 Jan. 28, then went just down the road to get walloped by the Belmont Bruins (16-7, 9-2 A-Sun) 83-69 Jan. 30.
The Ospreys soundly beat the Bison, only allowing them to get within six points of tying the game with 3:11 remaining in the second half. At Belmont, the game was never close. The Ospreys cut the Bruins’ lead down to nine with 4:50 remaining in the second half, but the team’s late surge fizzled out, scoring only one bucket after that. Here is an analysis of the weekend.
The rock isn’t that precious to the Ospreys.
The Ospreys have a bad case of buttery fingers. The team averaged 18 turnovers a game over the weekend, 2.4 more than the season average. Towson, which just broke its Div. 1 record 41-game losing streak, leads all teams with 18.9 turnovers per game, according to Fox Sports. Junior Forward Andy Diaz and senior guard Jimmy Williams didn’t help the cause. The two combined for 17 of the 36 turnovers over the weekend, with Diaz racking up five turnovers in 13 minutes of play against Belmont.
Can anyone besides Granberry and Smith shoot a three?
Junior guards Jerron Granberry and Parker Smith account for 110 of the 133 three-pointers made this year for the Ospreys. Their combined average is a respectable 39.4 percent for the year, compared to the rest of the team’s 21.5 percent. The only problem is that one was hot and the other was cold in both games this weekend. Smith found fire against Lipscomb, going 4-9 from beyond the arc. Granberry was 1-6. Against Belmont, Granberry went 3-8, while Smith was 0-4, forcing most of his attempts. Sophomore forward Charles McRoy and freshman forward Fred Landers were the only other players who attempted a three-pointer in either game, Landers missing his one attempt against Lipscomb and McRoy missing his one attempt against Belmont.
Ospreys craft masterpieces in the paint, but opponents do, too.
The Ospreys consistently scored many points in the paint but allowed too many points in their loss this weekend. The Ospreys averaged 37 of their 70 total points per game in the paint. The Osprey defense was stout against Lipscomb, only 12 post points, but Belmont revealed the Ospreys’ icy feathers, managing 44 points in the paint.
Free throw shooting is…
This seems to be the topic of discussion every week. The Ospreys shot 51.2 percent over the weekend from the free throw line, again lower than their season average of 64.6 percent. If the Ospreys continue to shoot from the line as horribly as they have thus far, the team average will be much lower than 64.6 percent. On the bright side, junior forward David Jeune was 8-8 from the line on the weekend.
The Ospreys are 7-3 at home and 4-10 in away games and are currently tied for seventh in the conference with the Stetson Hatters. The Ospreys have a chance to break that tie at home against Stetson (8-14, 5-6 A-Sun) Feb. 4. The following game is at home as well, against the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles (11-11, 5-6 A-Sun) Feb. 6.
Email Jordan Harirchi at asst.news@unfspinnaker.com.
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