DUNK CITY, Fla. – Looking for its fifth win in a row, the FGCU men's basketball team (15-7, 5-1 Atlantic Sun Conference) welcomes Northern Kentucky (9-12, 3-3 A-Sun) to Alico Arena for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Saturday with the Eagles vying to move into a first-place tie atop the league standings.
 
SETTING THE STAGE
FGCU, ranked No. 21 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll, is coming off a dominant 78-62 victory over Lipscomb (10-11, 4-2 A-Sun) on Thursday evening at The Nest in a matchup of second-place teams. With the victory, the Eagles moved into sole possession of second place in the A-Sun, one game clear of the Bisons and one game behind North Florida (14-9, 6-0 A-Sun) as the Ospreys remained perfect in conference action by defeating Kennesaw State. UNF hosts USC Upstate (15-7, 3-3 A-Sun) Saturday night at 7.
 
WHAT TO KNOW
The game is expected to be a standing-room-only sellout, with an extremely limited amount of general-admission tickets still available which can be purchased in person at the Alico Arena Ticket Office, by calling 239-590-7145 or by logging on to FGCUAthletics.com/Tickets. Like all FGCU home games, the contest – presented by Bank of America – will be broadcast on ESPN3 and via the Watch ESPN app. David Moulton will handle the play-by-play duties with J. Webb Horton serving as the analyst.
 
At halftime, former FGCU baseball standout and Chicago White Sox staff ace Chris Sale will become the first student-athlete to have a jersey retired as his No. 41 will be honored. Additionally, as a continuation of what started on Thursday, fans will have the opportunity to  donate new shoes or make a financial contribution to Laces of Love as Sale and his wife, Brianne, have partnered with the local charity to help children in need in Lee and Collier counties.
 
Saturday is Military Appreciation Night as FGCU Athletics and Bank of America have partnered together to recognize those who protect and serve our nation. At 3 p.m., the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team will play a game against local celebrities and FGCU staff members and former student-athletes on campus at Swanson Stadium. The team will then be honored prior to tipoff of the basketball game. Bank of America will also present a $1,000 scholarship check to a veteran during the contest.
 
Additionally, red FGCU T-Shirts will be available for purchase in the lobby for $10. All proceeds go to support the American Heart Association, and the shirts can be worn on Feb. 14 and 19 for the REDOUT games. Finally, raffle tickets to the 2015 Final Four will be available for purchase at the marketing tables immediately upon entry into the arena.
 
TWEETABLES (5 Things To Know In 140 Characters Or Less)
1) At 15-7, FGCU is off to its best start since joining Division I in 2007-08; the 5-1 A-Sun start matches last year as the best ever.
2) FGCU held a 37-25 halftime lead on Lipscomb Thursday; the Eagles are now 34-1 since 2012-13 when leading at the half (loss: FIU this year).
3) The Eagles have opened the A-Sun schedule with six-straight games of at least 14 offensive rebounds and 12 second-chance points.
4) Brett Comer (1,315) and Bernard Thompson (1,697) went over 3,000 combined career points in the win over Lipscomb.
5) FGCU's 15 wins are the most of any Division-I team in the state of Florida.
 
SCOUTING NORTHERN KENTUCKY
^ NKU was tabbed for a fifth-place finish in the A-Sun preseason coaches and media polls.
^ Cole Murray made a career-high eight 3-pointers as part of NKU's 85-75 loss at Stetson on Thursday night.
^ Tayler Persons leads the Norse with 12.2 points per game. However, in A-Sun games, Jalen Billups paces NKU at 16.7 points, and the forward has come off the bench in every game and is shooting a scorching 79.2 percent from the floor (42-53).
^ For the season, Billups is shooting 69.5 percent from the field (98-141 – no 3-point attempts), and that percentage ranks second in the nation.
^ Head coach Dave Bezold is in his 25th season at NKU, and is currently in his 11th season at the helm after guiding NKU into D-I for the 2012-13 season.

KEY FOCUS
In A-Sun games, FGCU leads the league by only allowing opponents to score 59.7 points per game with the next-closest average being 65.2 by UNF. NKU averages 70.8 points per game, but in the last eight games – dating back to Dec. 30 at Pittsburgh – FGCU has only allowed one opponent (UNF, 80) to score at least 70 points. In its 10 home games this year, only two opponents have scored at least 70 points on the Eagles (UC Santa Barbara, 75; Furman, 78).
 
NKU is shooting an A-Sun-low 29.5 percent (43-146) in league games from the 3-point line. Meanwhile, FGCU ranks third in the entire nation in 3-point percentage defense (26.1).
 
SERIES HISTORY
FGCU and NKU have only met four times, and while the average winning margin for the Green and Blue has been 12.5 points, two of the contests have been decided by seven points or fewer. Last year, the Eagles claimed only a four-point victory, 60-56, at home over the Norse. Ironically, that was the last time FGCU played a game with a sub-.500 record as the Eagles entered the contest at 6-7 following its non-conference schedule. In the A-Sun regular-season finale, FGCU claimed tournament hosting responsibilities by virtue of a dominant 92-72 victory, with the 92 points representing the second most the Eagles scored in a game last year.
 
#NESTPROTECTED
FGCU is 39-4 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 9-1 this season. In A-Sun regular-season games since 2012-13, FGCU is a dominant 20-1 inside the friendly confines of The Nest.
 
HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE
FGCU is statistically better in every key area at home than on the road, with the lone somewhat surprising exception being free-throw shooting. The Eagles connect at 66.9 percent (117-175) at home and 73.8 percent (93-126) on the road.
 
Category: Home / Away
PPG: 72.4 / 63.9
D-PPG: 59.1 / 73.4
FG%: 47.4 / 42.0
D-FG%: 36.7 / 45.6
3-PT%: 36.9 / 35.3
RPG: 40.9 / 32.1
APG: 16.2 / 13.6
SPG: 5.7 / 5.0
 
HOME SUPPORT
FGCU has sold out 18 of its last 26 games, and through 10 home games this year, FGCU has totaled 42,961 fans for an average of 4,296 (capacity: 4,333 + 300 standing-room only tickets). That's 34 percent of the A-Sun's total home attendance (eight teams) of 125,179.
 
RE-TWEETS (5 More Things To Know In 140 Characters Or Less)
1) With a victory, FGCU would post its second different five-game winning streak of the season.
2) In the D-I era, FGCU has only had two longer winning streaks, and both were a pair of seven-game runs in 2012-13.
3) Jamail Jones recorded a season-high 18 points against Lipscomb, and Marc-Eddy Norelia added 13 points – his highest output since 15 at UMass.
4) Comer issued 12 assists Thursday, tied for the most in his career against an A-Sun opponent and more than the previous three games combined.
5) FGCU is 11-0 when outrebounding its opponents this year, 13-1 when shooting a better percentage and 10-0 when scoring at least 70 points.
 
NEXT UP
FGCU will have a week off before returning to action when it commences a three-game roadtrip at Stetson next Saturday, Feb. 7, at 3:30 p.m. The contest will be the second game of a doubleheader as the 19-2 (6-0 A-Sun) FGCU women's basketball team faces its rival at 1 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.