The North Florida Ospreys and the Charleston Southern Buccaneers meet Thursday in college basketball action from Buccaneer Fieldhouse. North Florida is 1-0 so far following an opener win over Coastal Georgia. As for Charleston Southern, they’re sitting at 1-0 as well after their game one victory versus Toccoa Falls. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.

North Florida Ospreys 

North Florida is looking to continue their run of improvement this season following a 14-17 overall record in 2022-23. The Ospreys managed a .500 run in ASUN games, leaving the team in seventh place among the standings. North Florida’s postseason ended quickly with a 76-74 loss to Bellarmine in the first round of the conference tournament. 

The Ospreys were able to kick off their season with a victory over Coastal Georgia on Monday. North Florida jumped out to a 38-24 lead at halftime and cruised to the 92-55 result. Tops in scoring was Jake van der Heijden with 18 points on 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Nate Lliteras led the starters with 11 points and two rebounds. 

Charleston Southern Buccaneers 

Over on the Charleston Southern side, they didn’t have the greatest run last year either with a 10-21 overall finish and a 5-13 record in Big South play. The Buccaneers finished ahead of just one team in the conference standings (Presbyterian at 1-17) with that result, and ended up losing in game two of the Big South Tournament 75-66 to UNC Asheville. 

The Buccaneers kicked off the 2023-24 season with a nice win over Toccoa Falls. Charleston Southern posted 50 points in the first half on the way to a 94-59 end. DJ Patrick led the team on 22 points and nine rebounds, while Taje’ Kelly hoisted up a double-double on 11 points and 12 rebounds. RJ Johnson had a nice outing with 19 points as well. 

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll probably go with North Florida in this one. We should have a pretty interesting matchup on our hands regardless, though. The Ospreys kicked off the season with a dominant win versus an overmatched opponent, shooting 46.3 percent from the floor with a 46-34 rebounding advantage. North Florida wasn’t great from 3-point range (35.1 percent) and hit just 17-of-25 (68 percent) from the line however, so there’s plenty to work on heading into this game. 

As for Charleston Southern, they kicked off the year with a nice effort as well, shooting 52.1 percent with 54 rebounds versus Toccoa Falls. North Florida likely won’t be so permissive on defense though. I don’t think the Buccaneers will cover/win in the end but it’ll be close.