CINCINNATI – The FGCU men's basketball team (9-3) continues its three-game road trip when it makes its first national TV appearance of the year Sunday afternoon at Xavier (8-3) with a 4 p.m. tipoff on Fox Sports 1.
 
SETTING THE STAGE
FGCU is currently ranked No. 14 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, but is coming off an 86-67 loss at Iona (7-4) on Tuesday afternoon. The Eagles have not lost consecutive regular-season games since Dec. 17 and 19 of last year at USF and Mississippi State, respectively.
 
Xavier, meanwhile, has not played since an 89-88 double-overtime loss at Auburn on Dec. 20. The meeting with the Musketeers will be the first between the two teams, and for FGCU it will mark the second in a three-game stretch against teams which all rank in the top 80 of the RPI (Iona: 80, Xavier: 70, Pittsburgh: 78).
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Tim Brando and Bob Wenzel will have the call on Fox Sports 1 (DirecTV: 219, DISH: 150, Comcast: 450; more channel listings click here). The broadcast is also available via the Fox Sports Go mobile app (click here for more information). Live stats can be accessed by following the link at the top of this release. Additionally, updates and behind-the-scenes photos will be posted on Twitter (@FGCU_MBB) and Instagram (@FGCU_MBB).
 
TWEETABLES (5 Things To Know In 140 Characters Or Less)
1) Brett Comer is just one assist shy of 700 for his career.
2) FGCU has allowed its last three opponents to shoot better than 40 percent, something which occurred just once through the first nine games.
3) FGCU will be without Jamail Jones (11.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg) as he is serving the third of a six-game suspension for a violation of team rules.
4) After finishing 189th in the nation in 3-point percentage defense last year (34.6), FGCU is third in the country this year (25.4).
5) All three of FGCU's losses have come when they have been out-rebounded and their opponents have shot better than 40 percent.
 
SCOUTING XAVIER
^ Xavier leads the BIG EAST in offense (82.7 per game), rebound margin (+7.1), assists (18.4 per game), assist-to-turnover ratio (1.42), field-goal percentage (51.6) & 3-point percentage (39.2). Nationally, the Musketeers rank 13th in offense, 38th in rebound margin, fifth in assists, 19th in assist-to-turnover ratio, sixth in field-goal percentage & 35th in 3-point percentage.
^ Freshman Trevon Bluiett leads the Musketeers in scoring at 14.2 points per game, senior Dee Davis paces the club in assists with 5.5 per game and senior Matt Stainbrook shoots 65.5 percent from the floor (fifth nationally).
^ Xavier is led by sixth-year coach Chris Mack, who is one win shy of tying his predecessor Sean Miller (now at Arizona) for third on the all-time victories list at Xavier (120).
^ The Musketeers' three losses have come by a combined eight points (UTEP: 77-73, Long Beach State: 73-70, Auburn: 89-88), and in each of those losses they have shot between 40 and 49 percent from the field.
^ Xavier has made the NCAA Tournament eight of the last nine years and 12 of the past 14 seasons.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Comer (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park HS) scored 22 points and Bernard Thompson (Conyers, Ga./Rockdale County HS) added 19 but it wasn't enough for FGCU to overcome a hot-shooting Iona team.
 
Iona, which entered the game third in the nation in 3-point percentage, connected at a 40-percent clip (10-25) from 3-point range and shot 51 percent (27-53) from the floor for the game. The Eagles shot 47.5 percent from the floor (28-59) and out-scored the Gaels in the paint, 40-32, but 27 points from A.J. English – the nation's fourth-leading scorer – and 23 more from David Laury was too much to overcome.
 
Comer scored 20 of his team-best 22 points in the first half, while Thompson tallied 15 of his 19 points in the second half.
 
Iona raced out to a 49-38 halftime lead, but FGCU started to cut into that deficit early in the second half, and following a Marc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Olympia HS/Tulane) jumper trailed by just seven, 53-46, five minutes into the half. However, Iona responded with a 14-0 run and an extended 20-3 run to put the game out of reach.
 
DID YOU KNOW?
Thompson is the only active player (any division) with at least 1,500 career points (1,579), 500 career rebounds (509) and 225 career steals (231). Earlier this year the guard posted a Division-I program-record 34-point performance in a victory over Ohio.
 
#DUNKCITY MAESTRO
With 90 assists on the year, Comer ranks fifth in the nation in total assists (just five behind the leader), while his 7.5 assists-per-game average is fourth in the country. Comer leads all active players in the NCAA (any division) with 699 career assists as the Dunk City orchestrator is already the Atlantic Sun Conference's career assist leader. Comer – who has been tabbed by ESPN as the country's seventh-best point guard – leads the nation in assist rate at 51.7 percent (assists divided by the field goals made by the player's teammates while he is on the court).
 
ODDS & ENDS
Freshman Christian Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) is shooting 60 percent from 3-point range this year (12-20), with the dozen makes representing the second-most on the team … with four 3-pointers against Xavier, Thompson will move into sole possession of second place on the all-time FGCU list (Christophe Varidel, 178) … FGCU had five regular-season games on national TV last year (seven total including the postseason) … the Eagles have posted 40 points in the paint in each of the last two games … FGCU allowed a season-high 86 points to Iona on Tuesday as the 19-point loss was also the largest of the season.
 
CHALLENING NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
Xavier will be the latest test in a challenging non-conference docket for the Eagles. FGCU has already defeated four 20-win teams from a season ago (UC Santa Barbara, Ohio, San Francisco, Massachusetts) and another (South Dakota State) which won 19 contests. The Eagles – who can add another 20-win opponent to that list with a victory over Xavier – will play five teams in their non-conference schedule which rank in the top 80 of the current RPI (Green Bay (40), Massachusetts (65), Xavier (78), Pittsburgh (78) and Iona (80)). In total, FGCU will play seven non-conference games against teams currently ranked in the top-120 of the RPI (twice versus UC Santa Barbara (117)). FGCU (120) is the highest-ranked A-Sun team in the RPI, with the next-closest being North Florida (147).
 
A-SUN STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Marc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Olympia HS/Tulane) leads the A-Sun with 6.8 rebounds per game … Thompson ranks third in the league in scoring (15.3 per game) … Comer has 36 more assists than anyone else in the conference … Thompson is third in the league lead with 30 made 3-pointers … Nate Hicks (Panama City Beach, Fla./J.R. Arnold HS/Georgia Tech) is tied for second in the A-Sun with 1.1 blocks per game … FGCU leads the A-Sun in 3-point percentage defense (25.4), 3-point percentage (38.9), rebounds per game (39.7) and assists per game (16.3).
 
#DEPTHCITY
FGCU had five different leading scorers in the first eight games this year. The team has 10 players averaging at least 10 minutes per game and boasts five double-figure scorers and seven players who are averaging at least three rebounds per game.
 
RETWEETS
1) FGCU has six opponents this year which are ranked or receiving votes in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll.
2) Thompson has been named to the Lou Henson Player of the Year Watch List, awarded annually to the nation's top mid-major player.
3) The 43 and 47 points FGCU held Marist and San Francisco to earlier this year, respectively, were the second and third fewest in non-conference D-I program history.
4) ESPN has named Thompson as the nation's No. 8 best returning dunker in college basketball.

#NESTPROTECTED
FGCU is 35-4 at Alico Arena since the start of the 2012-13 season. The four losses have come to Lipscomb, Iona, Mercer and FIU, snapping – respectively – a nine-game home-court winning streak, another nine-game streak, a 12-game stretch and a four-game run. FGCU went 15-1 in 2012-13, 15-2 last year and is 5-1 this season.
 
Furthermore, against non-conference opponents during the regular season, FGCU is now 23-2 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 5-1 so far this season. The loss last year to Iona snapped a 15-game winning streak at Alico against non-conference opponents.

THE MOST PROLIFIC SENIOR 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 backcourt duo in all of D-I basketball. No other senior backcourt duo has combined to produce more stats than the following:
 
Points: 2,790
Next closest: 2,705 by Saah Nimley & Arlon Harper (Charleston Southern)
Assists: 906
Next closest: 806 by Raheem Appleby & Kenneth Smith (Louisiana Tech)
Games Played: 230
Next closest: 222 by Traevon Jackson & Josh Gasser (Wisconsin)
Games Started: 223
Next closest: 193 by Traevon Jackson & Josh Gasser (Wisconsin)
Minutes: 6,720
Next closest: 6,284 by Traevon Jackson & Josh Gasser (Wisconsin)
 
THOMPSON
Points: 1,579 – A-Sun active career leader, tied for 29th 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 13th among all active D-I players for career points.
 
Steals: 231 – Fourth among all active D-I players, Thompson is already FGCU's program career leader, and needs just 29 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.
 
COMER
Assists: 699 – Comer is 23 assists ahead of his next closest active competitor (Louisiana Tech's Kenneth Smith, 676). Of the 116 career games he has played in, Comer has led FGCU in assists 105 times.
 
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  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.
 
NEXT UP
FGCU continues its road trip with a quick turnaround as the Eagles will travel to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers (9-3) on Tuesday, Dec. 30, at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN3. The Eagles will be back in action at home on Friday, Jan. 2, against Ave Maria at 7 p.m.
 
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.