Jacksonville University Starts 2-1 Behind Hayden Wood's Career-High 26 Points, Visits Georgia Monday and Hosts Little Rock Nov. 19

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Jacksonville University's men's basketball team is 2-1 after its first three games, and the schedule gets harder from here. The Dolphins beat Missouri-Kansas City 79-61 at Swisher Gymnasium on Monday, Nov. 9, behind a career-high 26 points from sophomore guard Hayden Wood, according to the recap published by JU athletics. Their next game is Monday, Nov. 16, at Georgia, a 7 p.m. tipoff on the SEC Network, before two home games on Nov. 19 and Nov. 21.

The start follows a 12-20 season in 2025-26 in which JU went 7-11 in the ASUN and lost to Bellarmine, 82-79, in the first round of the conference tournament. Jordan Mincy, the Francis H. "Frank" Barker head coach, is in his sixth season leading the program, according to the athletics department's staff listing. The roster blends two preseason All-ASUN picks, Wood and junior guard Jamie Phillips Jr., with five freshmen and transfers from Minnesota, Wofford and Georgia.

How the first 3 games went

JU opened Nov. 2 with a 105-61 home win over Trinity College of Jacksonville, then lost 88-57 at top-ranked Florida on Nov. 5. The Dolphins led the Gators 6-5 with 16:50 left in the first half before Florida closed the half on a 10-0 run and took a 50-28 lead into the break, according to JU's recap. Florida outrebounded JU 52-25, while JU went 13 of 15 from the free throw line and had 21 bench points.

The UMKC win was more one-sided than the score suggests. JU led for all but 18 seconds and held a 36-20 halftime lead, the Kangaroos' lowest first-half total of the season, and the Dolphins' largest lead was 24 points with under 11 minutes left. JU shot 42.9% from the field to UMKC's 29.8%, outrebounded the visitors 34-28 and turned the ball over only six times, a season low and the second straight game under 10.

Wood scored 20 of his 26 points in the first half and finished 7 of 15 from the field, 3 of 7 from 3-point range and 9 of 9 from the line with six rebounds in 34 minutes. His previous career high was 25, reached twice as a freshman. Phillips added 18 points, 14 of them after halftime, and Nehemiah Turner, a 6-foot-10 junior transfer from Minnesota, had 10 points in a season-high 18 minutes for his second double-digit game as a Dolphin.

The next 2 weeks

The Nov. 16 trip to Athens is a homecoming of sorts for graduate forward Jaden Newell, who played at Georgia before transferring to JU and scored his first points as a Dolphin against UMKC. Georgia entered the week 3-0, with its most recent win coming by eight points over ASUN member FGCU, according to JU's game notes. The Bulldogs game is the second of six regular-season dates against opponents from the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC on JU's schedule.

The Nov. 19 game against Little Rock is billed as "Hoops for Hunger" night, and the Nov. 28 game is "Youth Sports Day," according to the schedule. The two games are JU's only home dates between the Georgia and Indiana trips, and both are on the ESPN+ streaming schedule. Tipoffs for the home games are 7 p.m. Thursday and 4 p.m. Saturday.

A December full of road trips

From Dec. 1 through Jan. 2, JU plays six of nine games away from Jacksonville. The stretch includes trips to UCF on Dec. 1, South Florida on Dec. 9, Florida State on Dec. 16 and No. 21 USC in Los Angeles on Dec. 19, followed by a New Year's swing through Texas at UT Arlington on Dec. 31 and Abilene Christian on Jan. 2. The lone home games in that span are FIU on Dec. 5, Baptist University of Florida on Dec. 12 and the University of Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 28.

ASUN play opens at home against Lipscomb on Thursday, Jan. 7, and Bellarmine on Saturday, Jan. 9. The crosstown games against North Florida are Friday, Jan. 22, at Swisher and Friday, Feb. 19, at UNF Arena. The ASUN Championship runs March 4-7, according to the schedule, which does not yet list a site.

By the numbers

• Record: 2-1 overall, 2-0 at home, 0-1 on the road.
• Free throws: JU has missed only 15 all season and is shooting 72.7% from the line, according to the UMKC recap.
• Turnovers: 6 against UMKC, the team's season low.
• Career high: 26 points for Hayden Wood on Nov. 9.
• Last season: 12-20 overall, 7-11 in the ASUN.

All home games stream on ESPN+, and the Georgia game is on the SEC Network. Live stats and ticket links are posted on judolphins.com. The Dolphins' last home game before the Georgia trip was the UMKC win, so the next chance to see them in person is Nov. 19.