The North Florida Ospreys clinched their first NCAA Tournament berth in school history with a narrow victory over USC Upstate in the Atlantic Sun Tournament title game.
Resume:
Record – 23-11 (12-2 in Atlantic Sun)
RPI – 171
Strength of Schedule – 341
Starting Lineup:
G Dallas Moore (So.) – 16.0 ppg, 3.7 apg
G Jalen Nesbitt (Sr.) –10.6 ppg, 5.7 rpg
F Beau Beech (Sr.) – 12.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg
F Chris Davenport (So.) – 11.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg
C Romelo Banks (So.) – 5.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg
Key Player:
Moore is North Florida's catalyst even though he's just a sophomore, leading the team in points and assists. He's excellent at penetrating the defense and either getting a good shot at the rim or dishing the ball to a big man down low. Moore needs to take care of the ball a little bit better (2.2 turnovers per game), but his production usually makes up for it.
Biggest Strength:
Offensive Efficiency
North Florida likes to play a run-and-gun, up-tempo style that focuses on fast breaks and creating easy shots around the rim. They shoot over 47 percent from the field as a team because of that, and they see the results on the scoreboard, where they rank 25th in the country in scoring (76.1 points per game).
Biggest Weakness:
Depth
Only seven players on North Florida's roster average over nine minutes per game, which leads to some tired, inconsistent play because of their up-tempo style.
Outlook:
North Florida could present problems to higher seeded teams because of their pace, but they're not good enough to pull off an upset.
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