Syracuse basketball has locked in another nonconference game. Here are the details on their matchup with the North Florida Ospreys.
The Syracuse basketball squad has confirmed another nonconference matchup for the 2019-20 season. On December 21, the Orange will welcome the North Florida Ospreys into the Carrier Dome.
This will be the second time in history the Ospreys and Orange have clashed on the court.
The last time these two teams squared off it was back in 2016, SU prevailed 77-71. SU dominated throughout much of the game increasing their lead to over 20 points with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game (56-32). But that’s when things went south.
The Ospreys went on a furious 36-17 rally closing the gap to as little as five points with just over a minute remaining. At the end of the day, a win is a win, but that was a little too close for comfort.
Some other interesting nuggets from that matchup in 2016:
- Tyus Battle made his Syracuse debut vs North Florida. Tyus was just a young pup back then but delivered a 19-point performance with a 6-of-7 shooting performance from the field. 80 percent from beyond the arc didn’t hurt either (4-of-5) from Battle and he helped seal the win.
- This would end up being a magical year for Syracuse as they’d secure three top-10 wins on the season including John Gillon’s buzzer beater to squash Duke in the Carrier Dome.
- Sadly the Orange would just miss the NCAA tournament. In Jim Boeheim’s 43-year tenure (he’s heading into his 44th season) he has only missed the NCAA tournament nine times (twice was ruled ineligible).
"“The Ospreys, members of the Atlantic Sun Conference, won seven of their last eight games to finish 16-17 a season ago. Matthew Driscoll has logged 10 seasons at North Florida and produced an overall record of 163-167. He guided the Ospreys into the NCAA Tournament in 2014-15. Junior swingman Garrett Sams (12.5 ppg., 4.9 rpg.) is a top returning performer for North Florida,” per the Syracuse press release."
Last season the Syracuse basketball squad was one of the most experienced in the entire country. They returned all five starters for the first time since 1999, they won’t have that same luxury this season. The lone starter returning is Elijah Hughes.
"While the Ospreys will have a significant advantage in that department per Chris Carlson of Syracuse.com, “the Ospreys didn’t lose a single player from last year’s team due to graduation, although leading scorer and rebounder Noah Horchler did transfer to Providence this offseason.”"
Noah led the team in points (16 points per game) and rebounds (9.3 boards per game). Even with Horchler gone, the Ospreys return the other four starters who all averaged (or nearly) double-digit points per game last season.
Here’s how the 2019-20 Syracuse basketball schedule currently looks per the SU press release:
Date Day Opponent Time Arena
- Oct. 26 Sat. DAEMEN (Exhibition) TBD Dome
- Oct. 29 Tues. CARLETON, Canada (Exhibition) TBD Dome
- Nov. 6 Wed. VIRGINIA TBD Dome
- Nov. 20 Wed. CORNELL TBD Dome
- Nov. 27 Wed. NIT Season Tipoff vs. Ole Miss/Oklahoma State/Penn State TBD Barclays Center
- Nov. 29 Fri. NIT Season Tipoff TBD Barclays Center
- Dec. 14 Sat. at Georgetown TBD Capital One Arena
- Dec. 18 Wed. OAKLAND TBD Dome
- Dec. 21 Sat. NORTH FLORIDA TBD Dome