# 2014–15 North Florida Ospreys men's basketball team

The 2014–15 North Florida Ospreys men's basketball team represented the University of North Florida during the 2014–15 college basketball season. The Ospreys competed in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Atlantic Sun Conference (A-Sun). They were led by sixth year head coach Matthew Driscoll, and played their home games at UNF Arena on the university's Jacksonville, Florida campus.
In their sixth season as a full Division I member, the Ospreys won their first Atlantic Sun Conference regular season and tournament championships and received their first ever NCAA tournament bid. As a No. 16 seed in the south region, they were matched up against fellow No. 16 seed Robert Morris in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio. They were defeated 77–81 despite leading by 14 points in the second half.
Nevertheless, the Ospreys set a program record for wins in a season and drew unprecedented media attention both locally and nationally. They earned the #1 seed and home court advantage in the 2015 Atlantic Sun men's basketball tournament, and advanced to the championship game where they defeated USC Upstate in front of a sold-out, record crowd of 6,155. The season also included two-game sweeps over their crosstown rivals, the Jacksonville Dolphins and conference runner-up Florida Gulf Coast. On December 6, 2014, the Ospreys upset the Purdue Boilermakers on the road, marking their first ever victory over a Big Ten Conference opponent.
Head coach Matthew Driscoll was named Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year and multiple players earned all-conference honors.
In the Week 18 AP poll released on March 9, 2015, the Ospreys received one top-25 vote, the first such occurrence in program history.

## Previous season

The Ospreys finished the 2013–14 season with an overall record of 16–16, 10–8 record in Atlantic Sun play. In the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament, they were defeated in the quarterfinals by USC Upstate, 80–74.

## Roster

| Number | Name | Position | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown |
| 0 | Jalen Nesbitt | Guard | 6–6 | 195 | Senior | Inman, South Carolina |
| 1 | Karlos Odum | Forward | 6–6 | 198 | Freshman | Lakeland, Florida |
| 2 | Beau Beech | Guard/Forward | 6–8 | 210 | Junior | Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida |
| 3 | Chase Driscoll | Guard | 5–8 | 170 | Freshman | Jacksonville, Florida |
| 4 | Devin Wilson | Guard | 5–11 | 176 | Senior | Gainesville, Florida |
| 10 | Osborn Blount | Guard | 5–10 | 173 | Sophomore | Jacksonville, Florida |
| 11 | Trent Mackey | Guard | 6–3 | 184 | Junior | Tampa, Florida |
| 12 | Aaron Bodager | Guard | 6–5 | 205 | Sophomore | Oviedo, Florida |
| 14 | Dallas Moore | Guard | 6–1 | 175 | Sophomore | St. Petersburg, Florida |
| 15 | Ismaila Dauda | Center | 6–9 | 250 | Senior | Kano, Nigeria |
| 23 | Nick Malonga | Guard | 6–4 | 197 | Sophomore | Bolingbrook, Illinois |
| 32 | Demarcus Daniels | Forward | 6–7 | 195 | Junior | Ashburn, Georgia |
| 33 | Romelo Banks | Center | 6–11 | 235 | Sophomore | Kissimmee, Florida |
| 35 | Chris Davenport | Forward | 6–8 | 210 | Sophomore | Atlanta, Georgia |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| Nov. 14* 7:00 pm | | at South Carolina | L 56–81 | 0–1 | 21 – Moore | 6 – Nesbitt | 3 – Mackey | Colonial Life Arena (10,473) Columbia, SC |
| Nov. 17* 7:00 pm | | Webber International | W 79–55 | 1–1 | 22 – Moore | 6 – Tied | 5 – Beech | UNF Arena (1,622) Jacksonville, FL |
| Nov. 20* 8:00 pm | | at Northwestern Cancún Challenge | L 67–69 | 1–2 | 18 – Moore | 8 – Nesbitt | 5 – Moore | Welsh-Ryan Arena (5,783) Evanston, IL |
| Nov. 22* 2:00 pm | | at Northern Iowa Cancún Challenge | L 49–66 | 1–3 | 15 – Nesbitt | 8 – Davenport | 3 – Moore | McLeod Center (3,220) Cedar Falls, IA |
| Nov. 25* 4:00 pm | | vs. Liberty Cancún Challenge Mayan Division | W 77–57 | 2–3 | 20 – Moore | 7 – Banks | 4 – Moore | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (215) Cancún, MX |
| Nov. 26* 4:00 pm | | vs. Elon Cancún Challenge Mayan Division | W 72–65 | 3–3 | 21 – Moore | 6 – Tied | 6 – Nesbitt | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (540) Cancún, MX |
| Dec. 1* 7:00 pm | | Edward Waters | W 97–65 | 4–3 | 25 – Beech | 8 – Tied | 6 – Nesbitt | UNF Arena (1,263) Jacksonville, FL |
| Dec. 3* 8:00 pm | | at Bethune-Cookman | W 63–56 | 5–3 | 14 – Nesbitt | 8 – Nesbitt | 4 – Davenport | Moore Gymnasium (904) Daytona Beach, FL |
| Dec. 6* 2:00 pm | | at Purdue | W 73–70 | 6–3 | 24 – Moore | 8 – Tied | 4 – Moore | Mackey Arena (11,038) West Lafayette, IN |
| Dec. 15* 7:00 pm | | Tennessee Tech | L 80–82 | 6–4 | 26 – Moore | 17 – Davenport | 4 – Tied | UNF Arena (1,128) Jacksonville, FL |
| Dec. 17* 7:00 pm, RSN | | at Florida State | L 77–93 | 6–5 | 23 – Moore | 5 – Tied | 4 – Davenport | Donald L. Tucker Civic Center (4,969) Tallahassee, FL |
| Dec. 19* 7:00 pm | | at Florida A&M | W 83–65 | 7–5 | 22 – Mackey | 10 – Nesbitt | 6 – Tied | Teaching Gymnasium (N/A) Tallahassee, FL |
| Dec. 22* 8:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Iowa | L 70–80 | 7–6 | 18 – Mackey | 8 – Davenport | 7 – Moore | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (14,137) Iowa City, IA |
| Dec. 29* 7:00 pm | | at Tennessee Tech | L 84–87 | 7–7 | 20 – Moore | 11 – Nesbitt | 4 – Tied | Eblen Center (1,549) Cookeville, TN |
| Dec. 31* 3:00 pm | | at Austin Peay | L 60–65 | 7–8 | 16 – Davenport | 8 – Davenport | 3 – Tied | Dunn Center (1,802) Clarksville, TN |
| Jan. 2* 7:00 pm, SECN+ | | at Alabama | L 61–76 | 7–9 | 14 – Daniels | 6 – Tied | 4 – Moore | Coleman Coliseum (8,821) Tuscaloosa, AL |
| Jan. 6* 7:00 pm | | Trinity Baptist | W 106–60 | 8–9 | 26 – Banks | 6 – Tied | 8 – Davenport | UNF Arena (1,715) Jacksonville, FL |
| Atlantic Sun Conference regular season |||||||||
| Jan. 10 3:00 pm | | at Jacksonville River City Rumble | W 86–63 | 9–9 (1–0) | 20 – Moore | 9 – Davenport | 2 – Tied | Veterans Memorial Arena (1,879) Jacksonville, FL |
| Jan. 14 7:00 pm | | Florida Gulf Coast | W 80–64 | 10–9 (2–0) | 27 – Moore | 8 – Daniels | 9 – Moore | UNF Arena (3,189) Jacksonville, FL |
| Jan. 17 1:00 pm | | at Stetson | W 80–65 | 11–9 (3–0) | 17 – Tied | 12 – Daniels | 6 – Nesbitt | Edmunds Center (1,262) DeLand, FL |
| Jan. 22 7:00 pm | | at Northern Kentucky | W 74–66 | 12–9 (4–0) | 24 – Davenport | 7 – Tied | 4 – Moore | The Bank of Kentucky Center (2,090) Highland Heights, KY |
| Jan. 24 5:00 pm | | at Lipscomb | W 75–66 | 13–9 (5–0) | 27 – Beech | 7 – Tied | 7 – Moore | Allen Arena (3,942) Nashville, TN |
| Jan. 29 7:00 pm | | Kennesaw State | W 86–67 | 14–9 (6–0) | 17 – Tied | 8 – Davenport | 9 – Moore | UNF Arena (1,805) Jacksonville, FL |
| Jan. 31 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | USC Upstate | L 74–79 | 14–10 (6–1) | 23 – Beech | 7 – Tied | 6 – Moore | UNF Arena (2,002) Jacksonville, FL |
| Feb. 6 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Jacksonville River City Rumble | W 77–50 | 15–10 (7–1) | 16 – Beech | 8 – Davenport | 4 – Wilson | UNF Arena (5,102) Jacksonville, FL |
| Feb. 12 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at USC Upstate | L 63–80 | 15–11 (7–2) | 17 – Davenport | 7 – Nesbitt | 6 – Moore | G. B. Hodge Center (807) Spartanburg, SC |
| Feb. 14 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Kennesaw State | W 67–51 | 16–11 (8–2) | 14 – Davenport | 6 – Tied | 6 – Nesbitt | KSU Convocation Center (761) Kennesaw, GA |
| Feb. 19 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Lipscomb | W 93–78 | 17–11 (9–2) | 21 – Moore | 11 – Nesbitt | 5 – Nesbitt | UNF Arena (1,528) Jacksonville, FL |
| Feb. 21 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Northern Kentucky | W 88–69 | 18–11 (10–2) | 26 – Nesbitt | 10 – Beech | 5 – Moore | UNF Arena (1,427) Jacksonville, FL |
| Feb. 25 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Florida Gulf Coast | W 76–62 | 19–11 (11–2) | 22 – Beech | 13 – Beech | 2 – Tied | Alico Arena (4,692) Fort Myers, FL |
| Feb. 28 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | Stetson | W 86–71 | 20–11 (12–2) | 21 – Moore | 9 – Davenport | 5 – Nesbitt | UNF Arena (3,793) Jacksonville, FL |
| Atlantic Sun tournament |||||||||
| Mar. 3 7:30 pm, ESPN3 | (1) | (8) Stetson Quarterfinals | W 81–67 | 21–11 | 19 – Beech | 11 – Daniels | 6 – Nesbitt | UNF Arena (3,313) Jacksonville, FL |
| Mar. 5 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | (1) | (5) Lipscomb Semifinals | W 71–57 | 22–11 | 36 – Moore | 9 – Davenport | 5 – Nesbitt | UNF Arena (4,106) Jacksonville, FL |
| Mar. 8 2:30 pm, ESPN2 | (1) | (3) USC Upstate Championship game | W 63–57 | 23–11 | 22 – Daniels | 10 – Davenport | 3 – Tied | UNF Arena (6,155) Jacksonville, FL |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| Mar. 18* 6:40 pm, truTV | (16 S) | vs. (16 S) Robert Morris First Four | L 77–81 | 23–12 | 28 – Beech | 9 – Nesbitt | 5 – Moore | UD Arena (12,592) Dayton, OH |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=South region. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||
Source:

## Awards and honors
### Beau Beech, guard

* Atlantic Sun All-Conference First Team

### Demarcus Daniels, forward

* Atlantic Sun Defensive Player of the Year
* Atlantic Sun All-Academic Team
* Atlantic Sun Tournament MVP
* Finalist, Lefty Driesell National Defensive Player of the Year

### Matthew Driscoll, head coach

* Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year

### Trent Mackey, guard

* Atlantic Sun All-Academic Team

### Dallas Moore, guard

* Atlantic Sun All-Conference First Team
* Atlantic Sun All-Tournament Team

### Jalen Nesbitt, guard

* Atlantic Sun All-Tournament Team