Nobody ever said it was going to be an easy season. Going up against non-conference opponents is always a hefty task, and the Ospreys have felt the heat through the first three games of the season. With their loss on the road to the Miami Hurricanes on Sunday night, learning through experience has become a theme in the early parts of the season.

With the final score being 77-59 in favor of the Hurricanes, the Ospreys continue to struggle against solid opponents with confident teams. Miami, who was playing in its first game of the season, looked sloppy but pushed turnovers and contested on the perimeter. 

While Miami forced the Ospreys to commit 18 total turnovers, UNF had one of their better defensive performances with 16 forced turnovers of their own. The area where the Ospreys usually thrive and perform well was part of their downfall in today’s loss as they were 12-40 from three-point range. Carter Hendricksen scored a team-high 21 points but was only 7-22 from the field and 5-17 from the arc.

What does this mean? Well, the Ospreys had the opportunities but were forced to attempt bad shots that led to empty possessions. This will have to improve as the non-conference schedule heats up in the coming days.

As the Hurricanes were a little rusty, they were still able to capitalize on these opportunities and use their size and length to dominate the boards and score in the post. The Hurricanes’ Isaiah  Wong led scoring for Miami going 9-14 on field goals but 0-3 from deep. For the Hurricanes, using their size will be a theme down the stretch and improving their discipline on turnovers will help them score more buckets.

For the Ospreys, using effective passing and creating open shooters will be something that will improve as the team gains chemistry. With that and committing less turnovers, the Ospreys will most likely need a few more games under their belts to get comfortable and raise their field goal percentages. If the Ospreys would have been able to do that today, then there would not have been any learning experience after the game.

Lastly, it will be interesting to see how Jose Placer fits into the Osprey squad after leading the team in assists for the second straight game. Placer only had two points in 27 minutes of playing time, but created opportunities that the Ospreys needed to at least make things interesting. Also, Jonathan Aybar led the team in Blocks with four as the freshman had his most promising game to date.

Hopefully next time we see the Ospreys play, adjustments will be made and opportunities will be capitalized on as shooting percentage is expected to rise. The Ospreys head to Florida State University on Wednesday to play the ranked Seminoles at 8 p.m.

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