First Scouting Report: When North Florida faces UK, a familiar face returns to Lexington
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Game day: No. 2 Gonzaga 88, No. 4 Kentucky 72
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A look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next men’s basketball game:
The opponent
No. 4 Kentucky (3-2) will face North Florida (1-2) on Wednesday (Nov. 23) at Rupp Arena (capacity 20,545) at Central Bank Center in downtown Lexington:
The game will tip off at 4 p.m. (EST) and be streamed by SEC Network Plus (there is no television or cable TV broadcast).
Before coming to Lexington, North Florida will travel to Pittsburgh to face Duquesne on Monday (Nov. 21) at 7 p.m.
Series history
Kentucky leads the all-time series 1-0.
As UK head man, John Calipari is 1-0 vs. North Florida.
North Florida Coach Matthew Driscoll is 0-1 vs. Kentucky.
Most recent meeting
Oscar Tshiebwe had 12 points and 16 rebounds and Sahvir Wheeler had 12 points and 14 assists to ignite Kentucky to an 86-52 victory over North Florida on Nov. 26, 2021, at Rupp Arena.
Dontaie Allen and TyTy Washington led Kentucky in scoring with 14 points each.
Freshman big man Jadyn Parker led North Florida with 10 points.
Power rankings
The CBS version of the NET Rankings have Kentucky No. 9, North Florida No. 275.
In the Kenpom Ratings, Kentucky stands No. 2, North Florida No. 227.
The Sagarin Ratings have Kentucky No. 9, North Florida No. 279.
Know your foe
1. North Florida’s best player is a familiar face to Central Kentucky basketball fans. Former Lexington Christian Academy star Carter Hendricksen is averaging 14.7 points and 8 rebounds.
The 6-foot-7, 215-pound senior from Mount Sterling has not shot the ball well early this season, however. Through three games, Hendericksen is making only 30.4 percent of his field-goal attempts (14 of 46) and 23.8 percent of his three-point tries (five of 21).
Last season vs. UK, Hendricksen had eight points, five rebounds and an assist but did not shoot well in Rupp Arena, going 3-for-14 from the field, 2-for-10 on treys.
2. North Florida returns seven of its top eight scorers from 2021-22. Besides Hendricksen, guards Jarius Hicklen (12.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists) and Jose Placer (12.3 points, 1.7 rebounds) are the only other two double-figure scorers.
Hicklen is a 6-3, 170-pound junior who is a transfer from Oklahoma Baptist; Placer is a 6-1, 184-pound redshirt junior who is a transfer from UMBC.
A willowy 6-10, 188-pound sophomore, Jadyn Parker (8.7 points, 6.3 rebounds) leads the Ospreys in rebounds.
3. North Florida Coach Matthew Driscoll believes in playing a strong non-league schedule. This year, the Ospreys will play five power-conference teams before ASUN play starts — including the teams ranked No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 in last week’s AP Top 25.
North Florida opened its season with a 104-63 loss at No. 2 Gonzaga on Nov. 7. In addition to their trip to No. 4 Kentucky on Wednesday, the Ospreys will also play at No. 3 Houston on Dec. 6.
The other power-conference foes on the North Florida schedule are Washington (a 75-67 road loss for the Ospreys on Nov. 11) and Pitt (Dec. 17).
This story was originally published November 20, 2022 at 9:54 PM.
