Dismal night in Duval: Jacksonville, North Florida routed in key ASUN basketball games
It was not a good night for either First Coast ASUN men’s basketball team.
Jacksonville University and the University of North Florida were routed at home on Wednesday, making JU’s task of reaching the ASUN tournament more difficult and ending UNF’s hopes of hosting a first-round tournament game next week.
The Dolphins, who played their best overall defensive game of the season last Friday to beat UNF 62-50, looked lost on that end of the court in an 86-73 setback to Stetson at Swisher Gym, dropping their record to 14-15 overall and 5-10 in the ASUN.
The Ospreys were walloped by Florida Gulf Coast 79-60 at UNF Arena, falling to 15-15 and 8-7 and losing their third home game in a row and their fifth in the last seven.
Neither JU or UNF led.
JU, UNF both failed to defend 3-point arc
Defense along the perimeter was lacking in both cases. Stetson (19-11, 11-4) shot 48 percent from the 3-point arc (13 of 27), making their first four of the game to set the tone. Florida Gulf Coast (13-17, 7-8) connected on 51.7 percent of its 3-point attempts (15 of 29).
The two teams swap opponents for home games on Friday to close the regular season, JU facing FCGU and UNF playing Stetson, both games at 7 p.m. The Dolphins will clinch the 10th and final spot in the ASUN tournament with a victory over the Eagles.
JU can back in with a loss, if Central Arkansas (5-10) loses to North Alabama and Bellarmine (4-11) falls to Austin Peay. The Dolphins hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against UCA but not against Bellarmine.
“Hopefully we have a sense of urgency,” JU coach Jordan Mincy said. “It’s a play-in game so the guys know what’s at stake. This time we need to be ready at the jump ball.”
JU couldn't find an answer to Stetson's Jalen Blackmon
The Dolphins trailed 30-25 with 4:56 left in the first half but the Hatters connected on 3-pointers by Stephan Swanson, Alec Oglesby and Jalen Blackmon on successive possessions and took a 43-30 halftime lead.
Stetson, with Blackmon scoring a team season-high 36 points (10 of 16 from the floor overall, 6 of 12 from beyond the arc), pulled away in the second half and led by as many as 21 points.
Gyasi Powell led JU with 18 points and Robert McCray had 16. McCray, the Dolphins’ leading scorer entering the game at 17.0, had only two points in the first half on 1 of 6 shooting.
If JU clinches 10th, the Dolphins will play the No. 9-seeded team on March 4 at the site of the top seed. If JU wins, it will play the No. 1 seed the following night.
Ospreys will be ASUN fifth seed at best
UNF, which already clinched a spot in the tournament, can’t catch Austin Peay (9-6) for the fourth seed and a home game. If the Governors lose to Bellarmine on Friday, they still hold the tiebreaker against the Ospreys based on their regular-season victory.
North Florida also will be playing a team on a mission. The Hatters can clinch the ASUN regular-season title and the top seed in the tournament with the combination of a victory over the Ospreys and a loss by Eastern Kentucky (12-3) at Lipscomb. Stetson beat EKU in their only regular-season meeting to hold the tiebreaker.
Isaiah Thompson led FGCU with 26 points against UNF, hitting 8 of 12 3-point shots. Chaz Lanier and Jah Nze led the Ospreys with 14 points each.
After the top seed and second place are decided between EKU and Stetson, Lipscomb (10-5) has third wrapped up. If UNF remains the fifth seed after Friday's games, it will play at Austin Peay on March 5 in a quarterfinal game.
The Ospreys can't afford to fall into a tie at 8-8 with North Alabama (7-8), which plays at Central Arkansas. North Alabama beat UNF in their only regular-season game and would move up to the fifth seed in that scenario, dropping the Ospeys to the sixth seed and an opening game at Lipscomb.
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Defense lacking for JU, UNF in home ASUN men's basketball defeats
