East Tennessee State defeats North Florida 80-57

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) — Mike Smith scored a career-high 29 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead East Tennessee State over North Florida 80-57 on Sunday.

Isiah Brown added 18 points and Micah Williams chipped in 15 for the Buccaneers (19-9, 14-3 Atlantic Sun Conference).

ETSU scored the game’s first eight points as part of a 19-4 run in the opening seven minutes. Smith and Brown combined for all the Buccaneers points during the spurt.

ETSU held the Ospreys to 9-of-29 shooting in the first half and led 41-26 at halftime. The Buccaneers stretched their lead to as many as 28 with 5:07 remaining.

ETSU scored 40 points in the paint, 19 points off 16 turnovers and made 90.5 percent from the free-throw line (19 of 21). It was ETSU’s sixth win in its last seven games, as it improved to 11-0 against North Florida.

Andy Diaz and Matt Sauey scored 10 points each for the Ospreys (10-17, 7-9).