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The North Florida Ospreys will host the Liberty Flames on Thursday in Atlantic Sun Conference play.
The game (7 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on TV anywhere, but anyone in the United States can watch it live on ESPN+:
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Once signed up for ESPN+, you can then watch Liberty vs North Florida live on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the ESPN app.
Liberty vs North Florida Preview
The Flames have won six straight since they suffered their first and only loss of the season, a 74-57 road defeat to the LSU Tigers on Dec. 29.
On Saturday, they edged the Lipscomb Bisons 67-60 at home to improve to 19-1 on the season and 5-0 in conference play.
“I thought tonight was good for us,” Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay said, according to The News & Advance. “Good for us to have a game that was highly competitive and we had to make some plays and get some stops in order to be victorious.”
Liberty guard Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz led all participants with 21 points, a personal season high, shooting 7-of-12 from the field and 2-of-5 from distance. He added a pair of assists and a pair of steals.
“Tonight was the type of game that my team needed me to score, and that’s what I did,” Pacheco-Ortiz said, per The News & Advance. “I just do whatever it takes to help my team win. Tonight was one of those nights that my team needed my offense more. That’s what I did.”
Liberty limited the Bisons to 20-of-46 (43.5%) shooting from the field. The Flames surrender the second-fewest points per game (51.5) among 353 Division I teams, and hold opponents to the fourth-lowest field-goal percentage (36.4%).
The Ospreys sit alone in second place in the Atlantic Sun. A week ago, they bested the Jacksonville Dolphins 75-68 on the road to improve to 11-9 on the season and 4-1 in the conference.
Eight minutes into the River City Rumble, the Dolphins led 16-10 on the strength of a 13-2 run. North Florida guard Garrett Sams responded by scoring 13 of his game-high 24 points across the remainder of the half, and the Ospreys carried a 31-29 advantage into the midway break.
“We sat in the huddle after their 13-2 run in the first half and said, ‘Let’s stop messing around and just get shots,’” Ospreys head coach Matthew Driscoll said, according to The Florida Times-Union. “All we talked about at halftime was getting shots.”
The Ospreys are on the hunt for their first conference regular season title since they won back-to-back championships in 2015 and 2016. Last year, the Flames claimed the conference’s regular season championship and tournament title.
“That’s what we built this team for, to compete for championships,” Driscoll said, per The Florida Times-Union. “Liberty has an older, experienced group. They’re extremely methodical.
“Those guys don’t beat themselves. They don’t turn the ball over and they don’t miss assignments. You can’t let them mesmerize you.”
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How to Watch Liberty vs North Florida Basketball