University of North Florida
St. John's
St. John's bombs past UNF
11/11/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 11, 2006
QUEENS, N.Y. - The University of North Florida men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with Big East foe St. John's in its season-opener on Friday night.
In the end, too much second-half Red Storm pressure and a long-range blitzkrieg from St. John's guard Avery Patterson proved to be the Ospreys' undoing as they fell 74-53 in the opening round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.
Patterson hit 8-of-14 shots from 3-point range - hitting four in each half - and finished with a team-high 24 points in his St. John's debut, delighting the crowd of 4,035 at Carnesecca Arena. Despite Patterson's heroics, UNF hung tough - trailing by only five with two minutes remaining in the first half and by only nine points at halftime, 43-34. The Ospreys sliced that margin to eight on two occasions in the second half, the last at 45-37 with 15:52 remaining.
A 12-2 run pushed the Red Storm comfortably in front from there, with Patterson contributing a pair of treys in the flurry. St. John's continued to stretch its lead from there, leading by as many as 27 points late before the Ospreys scored the game's final six points.
"They really turned up their pressure in the second half, and we didn't handle it," UNF head coach Matt Kilcullen said. "You have to credit their pressure and say it was the difference. I thought we competed tooth-and-nail with our first-ever Big East opponent and competed hard. Overall, our kids did everything we asked them to do. We'll get better and learn a lot from this experience."
Rashad Williams led UNF with 18 points, the only UNF player in double figures. UNF shot 43 percent for the game but just 26 percent in the second half - unable to find an answer for the St. John's pressure. The Ospreys committed nine turnovers in the final 20 minutes and 17 in the game.
UNF effectively shut down the Red Storm's vaunted inside game - allowing the Red Storm just 14 points in the paint. The Ospreys also hung with St. John's on the boards, with the Red Storm only outrbounding UNF 35-31.
The difference came from behind the 3- point arc, where St. John's was 13-for-26. SJU shot 44 percent overall from the floor.
The Ospreys return to action on Saturday night at 6 p.m. when they face Loyola (Md.) in the consolation game. The game will be aired in Jacksonville on WIOJ-AM 1010 and carried via the World Wide Web at www.UNFOspreys.com
