The week ahead in college basketball: North Florida at Pittsburgh top game in light week
A combination of the holidays and the end of the fall semester means a relatively light college basketball schedule for most First Coast teams -- with the exception of Edward Waters' men's and women's teams, which have three games on tap this week.
The North Florida Ospreys will play their final "money game" at Pittsburgh on Saturday (1 p.m.) while Jacksonville University plays host to Charleston Southern (4 p.m.), the only time those two teams will take the court this week. Pitt is off to a 7-4 start.
The top women's game of the week will be on Wednesday when JU will play at Ole Miss in an 11 a.m. start. The Rebels are 7-2 through Saturday's games and have lost only to Utah and Oklahoma.
Flagler's men's and women's teams have already started their Peach Belt Conference schedules and play at Young Harris (Ga.) in a Monday doubleheader.
Men
Player of the week: UNF junior guard Jarius Hicklen was lethal from beyond the 3-point arc last week, making 8 of 15 and scoring 27 points in two games. Hicklen was the only Osprey player to score in double figures in a 76-42 loss to top-ranked Houston, with 12 points on 4 of 7 3-pointers, and he added 15 points and made 4 of 8 from beyond the arc in an 88-48 victory over Bethune-Cookman. He added seven assists and eight rebounds.
Stat line of the week: Flagler sophomore forward Kyle Young had a triple-double in an 86-85 overtime loss at North Georgia -- but not exactly the ideal kind. Young had 12 points, 13 rebounds and 10 turnovers but also made five of seven shots from the floor.
Noting UNF (3-6): The Ospreys were 4-0 against Bethune-Cookman before Saturday but the widest margin in the series was seven points. This time it was by 40 as UNF posted season-highs with 15 3-pointers, 22 assists and seven blocked shots. It was the widest margin of victory for UNF against another Division I team since beating Kennesaw by 41 points on Feb. 1, 202. The Ospreys also are unbeaten in three games on their new court. Jose Placer had a season-high 21 points and he, Carter Hendricksen and Hicklen each had four assists.
Noting JU (5-3): Senior guard Kevion Nolan appeared to have snapped out of his shooting slump but he got cold again on Saturday in an 81-53 loss at North Carolina-Wilmington. Nolan made 3 of 12 from the floor and 1 of 7 from beyond the 3-point arc, after a four-game stretch in which he averaged 18.2 points, shot .571 from the floor and .500 on 3-pointers. ... Sophomore guard Gyasi Powell, a Bishop Snyder graduate, shot 9 of 16 overall, 4 of 5 on 3-points and had 22 points in 12 rebounds in the Dolphins' two victories. ... JU's 73-62 victory over VCU came in the first game against the Rams since 1991 when both teams were in the Sun Belt. The Dolphins are 7-7 vs. the Rams since a 12-game losing streak in the 1980s.
Noting Edward Waters (4-5): The Tigers battled back from an 11-point deficit to make it close, but fell 79-75 at Paine College on Saturday. Senior center Larry Kuima had 14 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots. ... A busy week for the Tigers begins on Tuesday at Florida A&M. They will then join the EWU women's team in playing road games in Alabama, at Spring Hill in Mobile and Tuskegee.
Noting Trinity Baptist (3-5): The Eagles were idle last week and by the time they face Johnson & Wales on Thursday in Miami they will have had 10 days off. ... Center Fausto Alvarez, a Bartram Trail graduate, leads the team in points (9.8), rebounding (5.5) and field-goal percentage (.600).
Noting Flagler (5-5): The Saints' last two games have been decided by one point but Saturday's 86-85 loss at North Georgia hurts because it was the Peach Belt Conference opener. Jaylen Lemons hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer in regulation to send the game to overtime and Chase Fiddler's steal and layup gave Flagler an 85-84 lead with 13 seconds left. But North Georgia's Frank Champion was fouled six seconds later and made both shots fro the victory. Lemons hit 8 of 11 shots from the floor and 7 of 10 3-pointers for 25 points, a season-high for 3s. The Saints made half of their 32 3-point attempts.
This week
Monday
Flagler at Young Harris (Ga.), 11 a.m.
Tuesday
Edward Waters at Florida A&M, 7 p.m.
Trinity Baptist at Johnson & Wales, 7 p.m.
Thursday
Trinity Baptist at St. Andrews (N.C.), 6 p.m.
Edward Waters at Spring Hill (Ala.), 7:30 p.m.
Friday
Flagler vs. Eckerd, Tampa Classic, 5 p.m.
Saturday
North Florida at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
Edward Waters at Tuskegee (Ala.), 3 p.m.
Charleston Southern at Jacksonville, 4 p.m.
Flagler vs. Tampa, Tampa Classic, 7 p.m.
Women
Player of the week: North Florida junior forward Lyric Swann had 27 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals in the Ospreys' 112-38 victory over Trinity Baptist on Friday. She also made 9 of 10 free throws.
Stat line of the week: UNF senior forward Emma Broermann had 18 points and 12 rebounds, and made 8 of 10 shots from the floor against Trinity.
Noting UNF (3-5): The Ospreys got six players in double figures against Trinity Baptist, their final home non-conference game. Jaelyn Swann (18 points and 10 rebounds) joined Broermann in netting a double-double. Elysa Wesolek (17) and Bishop Kenny graduate Maddie Millar (13) got into double figures off the bench for their career highs. ... Swann was honored before the game for reaching 1,000 career points (counting her time in junior college and Maryland-Baltimore County). ... UNF next plays at Auburn on Dec. 20.
Noting JU (5-2): The Dolphins will have traveled 3,738 miles round-trip to Jacksonville to Ames, Iowa, and Jacksonville to Jackson, Miss., in their games at Iowa State on Sunday and Ole Miss on Wednesday. JU then gets three consecutive home games, Dec. 19 against Fort Lauderdale and Dec. 29 against Florida A&M, followed by the ASUN opener on Jan. 2 against Bellarmine.
Noting Edward Waters (4-4): The Tigers will have the busiest week on the schedule of any area team, hitting the court three times, two of them on the road. It starts at home on Monday against St. Augustine University (N.C.) and EWU will then take a trip to Alabama to play Spring Hill in Mobile and Tuskegee.
Noting Trinity Baptist (3-7): Junior guard Emma Parrish was the only player in double figures against UNF, with 16 points. She added three steals and three assists. ... After Monday's game at Southeastern (Fla.), the Eagles are off until Jan. 5 when they play Welch College (Tenn.) at home.
Noting Flagler (2-7): The Saints fell flat in their Peach Belt Conference opener on Saturday with a 72-46 loss at North Georgia. But senior forward N'Mya Pierce logged her third double-double in a row with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
This week
Monday
Flagler at Young Harris (Ga.), 1:30 p.m.
Trinity Baptist at Southeastern (Fla.), 5 p.m.
St. Augustine University (N.C.) at Edward Waters, 6 p.m.
Wednesday
Jacksonville at Ole Miss, 11 a.m.
Thursday
Lynn University (Fla.) at Flagler, 5 p.m.
Edward Waters at Spring Hill (Ala.), 5:30 p.m.
Saturday
Edward Waters at Tuskegee (Ala.), 3 p.m.
Contact Garry Smits at gsmits@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @GSmitter
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: The week ahead in college basketball: Ospreys play at Pitt; Dolphins host CSU
