JACKSONVILLE – Coming off a dominant win to open its Atlantic Sun Conference schedule, the FGCU men's basketball team (11-6, 1-0 A-Sun) begins the road portion of its league slate by taking on North Florida (9-9, 1-0 A-Sun) Wednesday evening at 7.
 
SETTING THE STAGE
FGCU, ranked No. 20 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, is looking to move into a first-place tie atop the A-Sun ledger as with a victory the Eagles would be tied with Lipscomb at 2-0 after the Bisons defeated USC Upstate, 60-58, Tuesday night.
 
The game will be a matchup of the A-Sun's preseason top-two teams as FGCU garnered seven of the eight first-place votes to be installed as the league favorites, while UNF received the only other first-place vote and was picked second.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and via the WatchESPN app. Additionally, Tom James will have the call on FGCUAthletics.com. Live stats can be accessed by following the link at the top of this release, with updates and behind-the-scenes photos posted on Twitter (@FGCU_MBB) and Instagram (@FGCU_MBB).
 
TWEETABLES (5 Things To Know In 140 Characters Or Less)
1) FGCU will be looking to start an A-Sun season 2-0 for just the second time in program history, with the other 2-0 start coming last year.
2) The Eagles are coming off a season-best 22-point win, 72-50, over Stetson in their A-Sun opener at home Saturday night.
3) FGCU finished with a +30 rebound margin against Stetson, 53-23, its largest margin since moving to Division I in 2007-08.
4) The Eagles posted a 38-18 edge in points in the paint against Stetson and have now won 28 straight when finishing at least +15 in the paint.
5) FGCU recorded a season-high 16 second-chance points versus the Hatters, its first double-figure scoring output since 14 against Furman (Dec. 19).
 
SCOUTING NORTH FLORIDA
^ UNF opened its A-Sun schedule with a dominant 86-63 win over cross-city rival Jacksonville on Saturday.
^ The Ospreys are 5-4 all-time in A-Sun home openers, including a perfect 5-0 mark under head coach Matt Driscoll.
^ North Florida leads the A-Sun in 3-point percentage (.388), while FGCU paces the A-Sun in 3-point percentage defense (.251); that percentage is the third-best in the nation.
^ UNF has only had 10 players appear in games this year; meanwhile, FGCU has 10 players who average at least 10 minutes per game.
^ The Ospreys also lead the A-Sun in points per game (74.4), while FGCU ranks second in the league by only surrendering 61.9 per outing.
^ Dallas Moore leads UNF with 16.6 points per game, while Chris Davenport paces the Ospreys and the A-Sun by grabbing 6.6 rebounds per outing. North Florida has three different players who have made at least 38 3-pointers on the year.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The FGCU-UNF series has been a battle of runs as the Eagles won the first six all-time meetings, the Ospreys claimed the next seven and FGCU has won the last five. The Eagles claimed the matchup at UNF Arena last year, 79-75, before blowing the Ospreys out at home later in the season, 73-46. Since FGCU moved to D-I in 2007-08, the Green and Blue owns a slim 8-7 all-time series lead over UNF, having won the first three meetings prior to the Osprey's seven-game run from 2009-12.
 
RE-TWEETS (5 More Things To Know In 140 Characters Or Less)
1) FGCU utilized a four-guard starting lineup for the first time this year against Stetson with Comer, Thompson, DeBose, Jones and Hicks.
2) Freshman guard Christian Terrell has a team-best 18 rebounds over the past three games – four more than anyone else in that stretch.
3) Since the FIU loss, Bernard Thompson (six games) has scored a total of 15 first-half points and 58 second-half points.
4) Thompson and Comer combined for just 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists versus Stetson, but the Eagles still won by 22.
5) All 15 FGCU players who were dressed for the Stetson game made an appearance.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Behind a full complement of players for just the fifth time this year and first time in nearly a month, FGCU opened its regular-season A-Sun title defense by storming to a resounding victory over Stetson (5-11, 0-1 A-Sun) Saturday night at Alico Arena in front of a standing-room-only sellout crowd.
 
FGCU welcomed back Preseason A-Sun First Team selection Jamail Jones (Atlanta, Ga./Montverde Academy/Marquette) after a six-game suspension, and the redshirt senior scored a game-high 15 points and corralled a game-best seven rebounds. Redshirt sophomore Marc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Olympia HS/Tulane) reached double-figure points for the first time in eight games by adding 12, while Julian DeBose (Washington, D.C/St. John College HS/Rice) equaled that with a dozen of his own.
 
The Eagles – who entered conference play having lost four of their previous five – received just three points from leading scorer Thompson (Conyers, Ga./Rockdale County HS), but put their depth on display as five different players scored at least eight points. In total, the Green and Blue received scoring contributions from 11 different players as they defeated Stetson for the fifth-straight time and 10th time in the last 12 occasions.
 
NEXT UP
FGCU is back at home on Saturday night when it welcomes Jacksonville to The Nest for a 7 p.m. tipoff. General-admission tickets are selling fast but are still available by visiting the Alico Arena Box Office, logging on to FGCUAthletics.com/Tickets or calling 239-590-7145. The Dolphins (6-12, 0-1 A-Sun) host Stetson on Wednesday evening.
 
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.