North Florida At Purdue: Preview, TV, Odds, Time, Etc.

After four straight challenging games the Boilers get a somewhat easier challenge on Saturday afternoon as they face the mighty Ospreys of North Florida. Here are your game vitals:

This is the first of three straight games in which Purdue will likely be heavily favored. The Ospreys are still entering on a four-game winning streak after beating Bethune-Cookman Wednesday night. They have never made the NCAA Tournament. That doesn't mean they can't play some basketball. They are 5-3 on the season with losses to South Carolina, Northwestern, and Northern Iowa. The loss at Northwestern was a close 69-67 loss when Tre Demps scored with 2.5 seconds left. The Ospreys led 63-57 with three minutes left before the Wildcats made a frantic comeback. Bryant McIntosh scored eight in a row to basically save Northwestern's hide. Two of their victories came over non-DI teams and the other three were over Liberty, Elon, and Bethune-Cookman

North Florida shares the basketball well at 14.5 assists per game, while they are shooting well from the field at 47.8%. Dallas Moore, a 6'1" sophomore guard, leads them in scoring at 15.3 points per game. Moore is an excellent three-point shooter at 47.1% per game. Beau Beech at 39.5% and Trent Mackey at 45.7% are also very good three-point shooters, so defending the perimeter will be critical. These guys love to chuck the three ball with 181 attempts in only eight games.

North Florida is going to have to shoot well, because they have almost no interior presence. Romelo Banks is a promising 6'11" 235 pound center that averages 6.8 points and 3.3rebounds, but he is not on the same level as A.J.Hammons and Isaac Haas. Chris Davenport, a 6'8" forward is versatile with 11.1 points per game and 5.8 rebounds. He could be a pretty good matchup for Vince Edwards at the four.

The final player of note is Jalen Nesbitt, who averages 9.4 points per game as a 6'6" guard. This is a team with some size on the perimeter, but not much in the post. That should give Purdue a pretty big advantage down low.

There is some concern here as North Florida isn't bad. They shoot the ball pretty well and if they get hot from three that could keep them close. They don't rebound well though, so they need to stay hot. They average 13 turnovers per game, too.

There isn't a lot to get excited about here. Purdue is the better team and should win with ease. North Florida is frisky enough to stay around if they shoot well, but they don't have anyone to go inside and battle our big guys. That is probably going to be the difference in the end. Purdue 75, North Florida 55