DUNK CITY, Fla. – Looking to continue its best start in Division-I program history, the FGCU men's basketball team (6-1) returns to the friendly confines of Alico Arena Wednesday to face Florida Tech (7-0) at 7 p.m.
 
SETTING THE STAGE
Together, the two teams have combined to start the season 13-1. Ranked No. 16 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Poll, FGCU has sold out 13 games in a row, but a limited amount of tickets for Wednesday's matchup are still available and can be purchased by visiting the Alico Arena Ticket Office, online at FGCUAthletics.com or by calling 239-590-7145. Like all FGCU home games, the contest – presented by Moe's Southwest Grill – will be broadcast on ESPN3 and via the WatchESPN app.
 
TWEETABLES (5 Things To Know In 140 Characters Or Less)
1) The Eagles' 6-1 start is the best in D-I program history and second-best all-time as the 2003-04 team began 14-0.
2) #FGCU has held four-straight opponents below 60 points for the first time in the D-I era (2006-07 also four straight; never five in a row).
3) After finishing 189th in the nation last year in 3-point percentage defense (34.6), #FGCU is 4th in the nation this season (21.7).
4) #FGCU's current unofficial RPI is No. 60, and its only loss has come to unofficial RPI No. 1 Green Bay.
5) #DepthCity: #DunkCity has five players averaging between 9.5 and 15.7 points per game and 10 players averaging double-figure minutes.

SCOUTING FLORIDA TECH
^ Florida Tech is a Division-II member competing in the Sunshine State Conference, and four of its wins have come over fellow D-II members, while the other three have come against schools based in Puerto Rico.
^ The Panthers are shooting 54.4 percent from the floor on the year and averaging 83.6 points per game. FGCU ranks 16th in the nation in field-goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to connect at just a 34.8-percent clip.
^ Corbin Jackson is averaging a double-double for FIT (16.3 points, 10.4 rebounds), while Jermaine Jackson (no relation) leads four double-figure scorers at 18.9 per contest.
^ Florida Tech finished last season 16-13 and is coached by Billy Mims, who is in his 10th season at the helm.
 
#NESTPROTECTED
FGCU is 33-3 at Alico Arena since the start of the 2012-13 season. The three losses have come to Lipscomb, Iona and Mercer, snapping – respectively – a nine-game home-court winning streak, another nine-game streak and a 12-game stretch. FGCU went 15-1 in 2012-13, 15-2 last year and is 3-0 this season.
 
Furthermore, against non-conference opponents during the regular season, FGCU is 21-1 at The Nest since 2011-12. The Green and Blue went 5-0 in 2011-12, 7-0 in 2012-13, 6-1 in 2013-14 and is 3-0 so far this season. The loss to Iona snapped a 15-game winning streak at Alico against non-conference opponents.
 
NATIONAL RANKS
Brett Comer (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park HS) ranks second in the nation in total assists (54), while his 7.7 assists-per-game average is 4th in the country. The 56.4 points per game FGCU is holding its opponents to is 25th in the nation, while the Green and Blue's 289 rebounds are the 17th-most in the country.
 
ODDS & ENDS
FGCU posted six wins in the month of the November for the first time in program history … Bernard Thompson (Conyers, Ga./Rockdale County HS) became the 35th player in Atlantic Sun Conference history to reach 1,500 career points with an 11-point outing against South Dakota State (1,505) … despite scoring 71 points in its 71-58 win versus South Dakota State Sunday, FGCU did not have a double-figure scorer until 6:37 remaining in the game … Thompson has recorded multiple steals in five of the first seven games, and has recorded three or more thefts three times already … Marcus Blake (Miami, Fla./American Heritage HS) earned his second-career start Sunday … FGCU is an unorthodox 4-0 when committing more turnovers than its opponents … Nate Hicks (Panama City Beach, Fla./J.R. Arnold HS/Georgia Tech) grabbed nine rebounds against SDSU in a starting role as his previous season high was just four … in all six of their wins, the Eagles have trailed at one juncture.
 
CHALLENING NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
South Dakota State was the fourth opponent in the last five games for FGCU which played in a postseason tournament last year. Additionally, four of FGCU's first six D-I opponents this year won at least 20 games last season (SDSU, 19), each of those had an RPI better than 110 (five in the top-150) and three were in the top-85.
 
Team: 2013-14 Record / RPI / Postseason
UC Santa Barbara: 21-9 / 107
Ohio: 25-12 / 85 / CIT
San Francisco: 21-12 / 80 / NIT
Green Bay: 24-7 / 69 / NIT
South Dakota State: 19-13 / 143 / CBI
Totals: 110-53 / 97 Avg. RPI / 4 Postseason Appearances
 
RETWEETS
1) FGCU has already played three teams which are ranked or receiving votes in the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25 Poll.
2) The 43 and 47 points FGCU held Marist and San Francisco to, respectively, are the 2nd and 3rd fewest in non-conference D-I program history.
3) Thompson has been named to the Lou Henson Player of the Year Watch List, awarded annually to the nation's top mid-major player.
4) FGCU's shooting percentage of 27.3 from the field against Green Bay was the worst since a 25.4-percent outing at Arkansas on Nov. 22, 2010.
5) ESPN has named Thompson as the nation's No. 8 best returning dunker in college basketball.
 
THE MOST PROLIFIC BACKCOURT IN COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Thompson and Comer are not only the best backcourt in the A-Sun but also one of the best in the nation, and based on the following numbers the best senior duo backcourt in all of D-I basketball. No other senior backcourt duo has combined to produce more stats than the following:
 
Points: 2,647
Next closest: 2,578 by Saah Nimley & Arlon Harper (Charleston Southern)
Assists: 864
Next closest: 753 by Raheem Appleby & Kenneth Smith (Louisiana Tech)
Games Played: 220
Next closest: 210 by Traevon Jackson & Josh Gasser (Wisconsin)
Games Started: 213
Next closest: 181 by Traevon Jackson & Josh Gasser (Wisconsin)
Minutes: 6,450
Next closest: 5,994 by Traevon Jackson & Josh Gasser (Wisconsin)
 
Additionally, Comer is the NCAA active career assist leader with 663, while Thompson is 4th among all active players with 223 career steals.
 
A-SUN FAVORITES
For the second-straight season, FGCU is the preseason league favorite to win the A-Sun, and the Eagles were a near-unanimous selection. FGCU garnered seven of the eight first-place votes in the coaches' poll (63 points), while it received 25 of 26 first-place votes in the media poll (207 points).
 
Thompson was named the A-Sun Preseason Player of the Year and the A-Sun Preseason Defensive Player of the Year – the first time in at least five years the same player has been recognized with both awards. Comer and Jamail Jones (Atlanta, Ga./Montverde Academy/Marquette) join Thompson on the A-Sun Preseason All-Conference Team as FGCU is the only school with two unanimous selections (Comer and Thompson), and is tied with the University of North Florida for the most all-league selections with three.
 
GROWING UP QUICKLY
Despite only becoming D-I postseason eligible in the 2011-12 season, FGCU has already claimed an impressive nine wins in the postseason.
 
7-2: Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament
FGCU is the only school in D-I history to reach the championship game of its conference tournament in each of its first three seasons of eligibility. The Eagles went 2-1 in 2012 (lost to Belmont), 3-0 in 2013 (defeated Mercer) and 2-1 in 2014 (lost to Mercer).
 
2-1: NCAA Tournament
FGCU became the first school in NCAA history to reach the Sweet Sixteen as a No. 15 seed in 2013 when the Eagles defeated No. 2 Georgetown and No. 7 San Diego State en route to captivating the nation and earning the #DunkCity moniker. The Green and Blue lost to No. 3 Florida in the next round.
 
0-1: NIT
FGCU won the program's first A-Sun regular-season championship in 2014 courtesy of a 14-4 league mark. The Eagles received a No. 8 seed in the NIT and traveled to No. 1 Florida State, falling just short (58-53) to the eventual NIT semifinalists.
 
THE ONLY ONE
FGCU is the only school in the Atlantic Sun Conference which has won an A-Sun Men's Basketball Championship. Conference re-alignment has drastically altered the landscape of collegiate athletics, and the A-Sun is no different. The Eagles joined the league in 2007-08 with USC Upstate, and prior to that North Florida and Kennesaw State both joined for the 2005-06 season. Lipscomb has been a member since 2003-04, Jacksonville since 1998-99 and Stetson since 1986-87. Northern Kentucky is in its third year in the A-Sun after joining in 2012-13 and has two years (including this season) of its NCAA-mandated Division-I reclassification period remaining.
 
A-STUN CONFERENCE
The Atlantic Sun Conference has been the talk of the college basketball world the last two postseasons as FGCU and Mercer (now a Southern Conference member) have both been responsible for three major upsets in the NCAA Tournament, affectionately turning the A-Sun into the A-Stun.
 
2013 NCAA Tournament: No. 15 FGCU 78 No. 2 Georgetown 68
2013 NCAA Tournament: No. 15 FGCU 81 No. 7 San Diego State 71
2014 NCAA Tournament: No. 14 Mercer 78 No. 3 Duke 71
 
AMONG THE NATION'S ELITE
For the second-consecutive year FGCU was selected by ESPN for inclusion in the worldwide leader's Midnight Madness coverage when the Eagles hosted Dunk City After Dark on Oct. 17. With that honor, FGCU joined only four other extremely tradition-rich programs which can boast that claim: Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse and UConn.
 
MORE BT & BC
BERNARD THOMPSON
Points: 1,505 – A-Sun active career leader, 34th on the all-time conference scoring list and tops on the FGCU program career scoring record. If Thompson scores 605 points (20 points per game over the regular season), he would become only the eighth player in A-Sun history (first season: 1978-79) to reach 2,000 career points. The A-Sun career scoring record is held by Willie Jackson (2,535) who played for former league member Centenary from 1980-84. Thompson is currently 14th among all active D-I players for career points.
 
Steals: 223 – Thompson is already FGCU's program career leader, and needs just 37 more thefts this year to own the A-Sun career record (259), currently held by Vaughn Williams who played at former league member Arkansas-Little Rock from 1980-83.
 
BRETT COMER
Assists: 663 – Comer is 32 assists ahead of his next closest active competitor (Louisiana Tech's Kenneth Smith, 631). Of the 111 career games he has played in, Comer has led FGCU in assists 101 times.
 
NEXT UP
FGCU's grueling non-conference schedule will continue Sunday at 2 p.m. when the Eagles flock to the Northeast to face the University of Massachusetts as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Holiday Showcase at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass. An Atlantic 10 Conference member, UMass was ranked most of last season, went 24-9 and earned an at-large NCAA Tournament berth before finishing with the No. 26 RPI in the nation. The Minutemen, who are off to a 5-2 start this season, are currently in the top-50 of the unofficial RPI ranking.
 
FOLLOW ALONG
General-admission tickets for all FGCU men's basketball games at Alico Arena are still available and can be purchased by logging on to FGCUAthletics.com/Tickets, in person at the Alico Arena Ticket Office or over the phone at 239-590-7145. For up-to-the-minute information and behind-the-scenes access to the men's basketball program, follow @FGCU_MBB on Twitter and Instagram, and "Like" us on Facebook at /FGCUMBB.
 
COACH DOOLEY 
FGCU is led by second-year head coach Joe Dooley, who coached three all-conference selections during his first season and guided FGCU to its first Atlantic Sun Conference Regular-Season Championship and first trip to the NIT. Prior to arriving in SWFL, Dooley spent 10 seasons as an assistant at Kansas under head coach Bill Self. During those 10 seasons, Kansas produced 300 wins, nine straight Big 12 regular-season titles, six Big 12 Tournament championships, six NCAA Sweet 16s, five NCAA Elite Eight appearances and two Final Fours, including the 2008 National Championship.
 
SUPPORT THE CAUSE 
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visitwww.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.