National Basketball Association
North Florida 93, Illinois 81
When: 8:00 PM ET, Friday, November 13, 2015
Where: Prairie Captial Convention Center, Springfield, Illinois
Officials:
# Jim Schipper, # Darryl Smith, # Tim Stewart
Attendance:
5186
By The Sports Xchange
Senior wing Beau Beech and junior point guard Dallas Moore combined for 51 points and 10 3-pointers as North Florida jumped on Illinois from the start and earned a 93-81 victory in season-opening action Friday night at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in Springfield, Ill.
The Ospreys (1-0), who retain four starters from last year's NCAA Tournament squad that finished 10th nationally with 317 3-pointers, built a 47-34 margin at the break as they riddled Illinois for 9 3-pointers.
The undermanned Illini got as close as 76-67 on senior center Mike Thorne Jr.'s dunk with 6:26 to play, but North Florida keep gunning from all over the floor to improve to 2-12 against Big Ten foes. North Florida finished 17 of 33 from 3-point range – led by Beech's 7 of 8 showing -- while Illinois hit just 5 of 16 to suffer its first opening-night loss since 1999.
Senior center Mike Thorne Jr., a graduate transfer from Charlotte, posted 25 points and 14 rebounds and junior swingman Malcolm Hill added 20 points to lead the way for Illinois (0-1), which played without starting shooting guard Kendrick Nunn and starting power forward Leron Black and lost starting point guard Jaylon Tate in the first half with an apparent broken finger.
Nunn isn't expected back until Christmas after undergoing surgery on his left thumb while Black, who underwent surgery on Oct. 9 to repair torn meniscus cartilage in his right knee, might return for Sunday's game against North Dakota State.
Illinois played its first of four home games 86 miles from campus while the next-to-last phase of the State Farm Center's $169.5 million renovation concludes.
North Florida took advantage of the Prairie Capital Convention Center's soft rims and Illinois' soft defense to bomb away from every angle. With 14:18 to play, the Ospreys had canned 14 of 23 3-point tries to build a 68-45 bulge.
Moore (26 points, 10 assists) and Beech (25 points), a pair of first-team all-Atlantic Sun picks, took advantage of an inexperienced Illinois starting lineup that included freshman guards D.J. Williams and Aaron Jordan.
Moore used North Florida's first shot to bury a 3-pointer, Beech swished a 3-pointer on the Ospreys' third shot and the tone was set.
Top Game Performances
| North Florida |
|
Illinois |
|
Dallas Moore 26 |
Scoring |
Mike Thorne Jr. 25 |
|
Dallas Moore 10 |
Assists |
Malcolm Hill 5 |
|
Demarcus Daniels 9 |
Rebounds |
Mike Thorne Jr. 14 |
|
Beau Beech 2 |
Free Throws Made |
Malcolm Hill 7 |
|
Beau Beech 1 |
Steals |
Aaron Jordan 1 |
|
Demarcus Daniels 2 |
Blocks |
Malcolm Hill 1 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| North Florida
|
93 |
52.2 |
17-33 |
6-8 |
20 |
35 |
6 |
2 |
6 |
| Illinois
|
81 |
45.1 |
5-16 |
12-23 |
14 |
37 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
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