The North Florida Ospreys (20-10) travel to Jacksonville to play the Dolphins (16-14) in a matchup that pits the Atlantic Sun’s top-ranked offense against the top-ranked defense. The game starts at 7:00 pm ET on Thursday, Feb. 25 and will air on ES3.
The Dolphins were beaten by NJIT 73-58 the last time they played. J.R. Holder finished with 22 points to lead the game. The Ospreys, meanwhile, are coming off an 81-78 win over USC Upstate in their last outing. Demarcus Daniels led the game in scoring with 23 points on 10-for-18 shooting.
Over the last five games, Holder has really been playing well for the Dolphins. During that stretch, he has averaged 17.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.6 blocks, and 1.4 three-pointers.
Points at the line might be difficult to come by for the Dolphins in this contest. They are 298th in the nation in FTA rate (32.0), while North Florida is among the nation’s least foul-prone teams (allowing a FTA rate of just 26.9, 16th in the country). Moreover, the Ospreys rank third in eFG% at 58.9%, whereas the porous field-goal defense of the Dolphins places 274th with opponents connecting at a clip of 51.6%.
This will be the second matchup of the season between these two teams. The Ospreys won the first game 83-68. Daniels played a big role with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Notes
North Florida won its last game by a three-point margin. In games decided by a margin of three points or less, Jacksonville is 4-2. North Florida is 1-0 in close games this season.
With 71.4 possessions and 1.062 points per possession, the Jacksonville Dolphins perform worse on both metrics than the North Florida Ospreys. North Florida averages 71.6 possessions and 1.196 points per possession.
The North Florida Ospreys have one of the best effective field goal percentages this season, ranking third in the country with an eFG% of 58.9%. When their opponents record a similar or higher eFG%, the Jacksonville Dolphins have a subpar 2-6 record.
On average, Jacksonville attempts 22.0 three pointers and North Florida attempts 30.0. In games where they have 20 or more three point attempts, the Jacksonville Dolphins are 11-10 while the North Florida Ospreys have a solid 20-9 record.
The ninth-ranked team in the category, North Florida has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.54 this season. Jacksonville ranks lower at 150th with an A/TO of 1.10.
Jacksonville, the 85th-ranked team in rebounding, register an average of 38.2 rebounds per game. North Florida does worse, ranked 261st with 34.8.
The Jacksonville Dolphins make an average of 6.3 steals per game. The North Florida Ospreys are 7-6 when they allow 6 or more steals.
