SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – For the second time this season the FGCU men's basketball team (10-5) will face UC Santa Barbara (6-7) as the Eagles conclude their long, traversing non-conference schedule with a cross-country trip to face the Gauchos in The Thunderdome Monday evening at 10 p.m. Eastern.
 
SETTING THE STAGE
FGCU, ranked No. 15 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory at home over Ave Maria on Friday night, giving the Eagles double-figure non-league wins in a season for the first time in program history.
 
UC Santa Barbara defeated Vermont on Friday, 64-57, to stop its own two-game losing streak which stemmed from setbacks at Oregon State and Oregon. The Gauchos will also be concluding non-conference action before beginning their Big West Conference slate of games on Saturday.
 
The two teams will be meeting for the second time in less than 50 days, and the first contest was an overtime thriller won by FGCU.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
The game will be broadcast on BigWest.TV (link at the top of this release). Live stats can be accessed by following the link at the top as well. 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) The 36 points FGCU held NAIA Ave Maria to as part of the 49-36 win on Friday were the third-fewest in program history.
2) FGCU limited Ave Maria to just 32 percent from the field, and is now 7-0 when holding opponents below 40 percent.
3) Jamail Jones (14 points, 11 rebounds in the first UCSB game) will be serving the final game of a six-game suspension for a violation of team rules.
4) FGCU, which sat three starters against Ave Maria, has won games this year when scoring in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.
5) The Eagles, who out-scored Ave Maria in the paint, 34-12, are now 27-0 dating back to 2011-12 when finishing a game at least +15 in the paint.
 
SCOUTING UC SANTA BARBARA
^ Four of UCSB's six wins have come at home (4-1) as the Gauchos have played a challenging non-conference schedule which included Colorado State, SMU, Oregon, Oregon State, Kansas and Washington State.
^ Senior Alan Williams has been named to the initial Naismith Trophy Men's 50 Watch List. Williams is averaging 18.3 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots per game. He was the 2014 Big West Player of the Year and Honorable Mention Associated Press All-American.
^ Williams leads all active players with 970 career rebounds, and in the first meeting this year between UCSB and FGCU he scored 29 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.
^ UCSB made a season-best 83.3 percent from the free-throw line versus Vermont. The Gauchos have hit 75 percent or better in six of their last nine games and are now shooting 73.9 percent from the line as a team.
^ The Gauchos are led by Bob Williams, who is in his 17th season as the head coach of UCSB, tied for the longest-tenured coach west of the Mississippi River.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET
With the game tied at 62-62, Brett Comer (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park HS) hit a pull-up jumper to put FGCU ahead, 64-62, with 6 seconds remaining. What appeared to be the game-winning bucket went for naught when on the ensuing UCSB possession, the refs ruled that Williams was fouled by Nate Hicks (Panama City Beach, Fla./J.R. Arnold HS/Georgia Tech) attempting the game-tying layup. Williams – one of the most unheralded low-post players in the nation – hit both free throws to force overtime.
 
In overtime, Comer was responsible for nearly half of FGCU's 17 points in the 5-minute session as the point guard netted eight. The Eagles never trailed in overtime, and the deciding push came in a two-minute stretch in which FGCU out-scored UCSB, 6-0, to open up an insurmountable 74-68 lead following a Comer and-1 finish. Comer finished with 28 points – 18 of which came in the final seven minutes of regulation and overtime – and added 11 assists as the Dunk City maestro opened the season with consecutive double-double performances.
 
ODDS & ENDS
Comer assisted on all nine of FGCU's second-half dunks against Ave Maria –seven of which were alley-oops to Demetris Morant (Miami, Fla./Bishop Gorman HS/UNLV) – and finished the game with 12 for his sixth double-figure assist performance of the season … the Eagles were without leading scorer Bernard Thompson (rest), redshirt senior center starter Hicks (rest) and Jones (Atlanta, Ga./Montverde Academy/Marquette) (suspension) for the Ave Maria game … with nine points Comer will surpass 2013 graduate Sherwood Brown for fourth place on FGCU's career scoring list (1,241) … the Eagles trailed at the half against Ave Maria, marking the team's first win this year when losing at the break (1-4) … by starting against UCSB, Comer will match the FGCU career record for games started, currently held by 2014 graduate Chase Fieler.
 
DID YOU KNOW?
Thompson (Conyers, Ga./Rockdale County HS) is the only active player (any division) with at least 1,600 career points (1,605), 500 career rebounds (522) and 225 career steals (234). Earlier this year the guard posted a D-I program-record 34-point performance in a victory over Ohio.
 
#DUNKCITY MAESTRO
Comer leads the nation with 116 assists on the year, while his 7.7 assists-per-game average is second in the country. Comer leads all active players in the NCAA (any division) with 725 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 – also leads the nation in assist rate at 50.6 percent (assists divided by the field goals made by the player's teammates while he is on the court).
 
RETWEETS (From Ave Maria Game)
1) The 49 points FGCU scored were the fewest in a win (third-fewest ever) since a 47-39 decision against Campbell in 2010-11.
2) FGCU shot 51 percent from the floor but scored 49 points, marking the third time this year a D-I team has shot 50+ percent but had fewer points.
3) The Eagles shot 77 percent in the second half (17-22) and did not miss an attempt from inside the 3-point line (15-15).
4) The 12 first-half points FGCU scored were the second-fewest in any half in program history; it had 10 in the first half at ETSU in 2009-10.
5) FGCU allowed just 36 points, third all-time to only a pair of 30-point outings by Penn (2007-08) and Florida Christian College (2002-03).
 
CHALLENING NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
UC Santa Barbara, which despite a losing record still has a top-145 RPI, concludes 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 make that five victories over 20-win teams from a season ago with another triumph over UC Santa Barbara – have played four teams which rank in the top 85 of the current RPI (Xavier (54), Green Bay (49), Massachusetts (81) and Pittsburgh (73)). In total, FGCU will play eight non-conference games against teams currently ranked in the top 145 of the RPI (Iona (92), twice versus UC Santa Barbara (141) and South Dakota State (139)). FGCU (136) and USC Upstate (137) are the two highest-ranked A-Sun teams.
 
FREQUENT FLIERS
The trip to Santa Barbara, Calif. will wrap up FGCU's six non-conference games which took place away from home in Sioux Falls, S.D., Springfield, Mass., New Rochelle, N.Y., Cincinnati, Ohio and Pittsburgh, Pa. In total, the round-trip mileage from Fort Myers to each location (nearly 15,000) accounts for the most distance FGCU have ever traveled in its non-conference schedule since moving to Division I in 2007-08.
 
A-SUN STATISTICAL RANKINGS
Marc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Olympia HS/Tulane) is tied for the team lead and is second in the A-Sun with 6.1 rebounds per game … Thompson ranks third in the league in scoring (15 per game) … Comer has 58 more assists than anyone else in the conference … Thompson is second in the league with 35 made 3-pointers … Hicks is tied for lead in the A-Sun with 1.2 blocks per game … FGCU leads the A-Sun in 3-point percentage defense (25.9), 3-point percentage (37.1), rebounds per game (37.9) and assists per game (15.6).
 
#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 players averaging at least 9 points per game and seven players who are averaging at least three rebounds per game.
 
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: 2,838
Next closest: 2,749 by Saah Nimley & Arlon Harper (Charleston Southern)
Assists: 936
Next closest: 834 by Raheem Appleby & Kenneth Smith (Louisiana Tech)
Games Played: 235
Next closest: 226 by Traevon Jackson & Josh Gasser (Wisconsin)
Games Started: 228
Next closest: 197 by Traevon Jackson & Josh Gasser (Wisconsin)
Minutes: 6,897
Next closest: 6,413 by Traevon Jackson & Josh Gasser (Wisconsin)
 
THOMPSON
Points: 1,605 – A-Sun active career leader, 26th 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: 234 – Fourth among all active D-I players, Thompson is already FGCU's program career leader, and needs just 26 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: 725 – Comer is 27 assists ahead of his next closest active competitor (Louisiana Tech's Kenneth Smith, 698). Of the 119 career games he has played in, Comer has led FGCU in assists 108 times.
 
#NESTPROTECTED
FGCU is 36-4 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 6-1 this season.
 
Furthermore, against non-conference opponents during the regular season, FGCU is now 24-2 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 6-1 this season. The loss last year to Iona snapped a 15-game winning streak at Alico against non-conference opponents.

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 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
Following the meeting with UC Santa Barbara, FGCU will open its defense of the A-Sun regular-season championship at home against in-state foe Stetson (5-10) on Saturday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m. The game will be the second of a doubleheader as the FGCU women (13-2, RPI: 14) battle the Hatters (11-3, RPI: 50) in a pivotal matchup at 4 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.