GAINESVILLE – The FGCU men's basketball team (3-2) travels to face in-state foe University of Florida (4-1) at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center Friday night at 6:30 in a game televised nationally on the SEC Network.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
The game will be the first national TV contest of the year for the Eagles. Fans can access the SEC Network on DirecTV channel 611, Dish Network channel 408 and in Southwest Florida on Comcast channel 486. Additionally, the game will be streamed via ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app by clicking here.
 
TWEETABLES
1) UF leads the all-time series, 2-0, with the last meeting coming in the 2013 Sweet Sixteen as the Gators ended the 15th-seeded Eagles' run, 62-50.
2) On Monday, Marc-Eddy Norelia was named A-Sun Player of the Week, and Reggie Reid was tabbed as the A-Sun Newcomer of the Week.
3) FGCU has already had three different leading scorers and eight players record double-figure points (five which are freshmen or sophomores).
4) The Eagles are coming off an 82-77 loss to Bowling Green, just the fourth time in Dooley's 2+ years FGCU has lost when scoring 70+ (28-4).
5) FGCU received 58 points from its bench versus BGSU, the most in Division-I program history and most ever against an NCAA team.
 
MOST WINS IN FLORIDA
Since the start of the 2013-14 season, only UF has won more games among D-I schools in the state of Florida than FGCU:
 
Florida: 56
FGCU: 47
Miami: 47
North Florida: 44
Florida State: 43
FIU: 34
UCF: 26
Jacksonville: 24
USF: 22
FAU: 20
Bethune-Cookman: 20
Florida A&M: 18
Stetson: 17
 
SCOUTING FLORIDA
The Gators are 4-1, with wins coming over Navy (59-41), North Carolina A&T (104-54), Saint Joseph's (74-63) and most recently Wednesday afternoon versus Vermont (86-62). The lone loss of the season to this point came to No. 21 Purdue, 85-70, on Nov. 22.
 
UF is coached by Michael White, who took over the program after Billy Donovan took the head coaching job for the Oklahoma City Thunder this past spring after 19 seasons with the Gators. White and his entire staff came from Louisiana Tech, which will travel to FGCU in December after going 27-9 last year and finishing with a top-50 RPI.
 
All-SEC member Dorian Finney-Smith leads UF with 13.6 points per game and 8.4 rebounds per outing. Devin Robinson is second on the Gators in both categories at 12 ppg and 7.8 rpg, while John Egbunu is UF's third double-figure scorer at 11 ppg.
 
#DEPTHCITY
The aforementioned 58 bench points versus Bowling Green were the most since the Eagles had 61 on Nov. 21, 2003, versus the University of Puerto Rico Piedras in the program's second season. The 58 points – which represented 75 percent of FGCU's total scoring for the game – were spearheaded by Zach Johnson (Miami, Fla./Norland HS) as the redshirt freshman tallied 26 and sophomore Christian Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) who netted 21.
 
Johnson is one of three different leading scorers through the first five games for FGCU, which has had eight players reach double-figure points already this season. Redshirt sophomore Kevin Mickle (Brooklyn, N.Y./Broward/CCSU/St. Benedict's) would make that total nine, but he came just one point shy of double figures against Youngstown State. Five of those eight double-figure scorers this year for the Eagles are either freshmen or sophomores, and six of the eight have been non-seniors.
 
FGCU is young, but talented, and so far this year 76 percent of its scoring, 73 percent of its rebounding and 83 percent of its assists have come from non-seniors.
 
PLAYER QUICK HITTERS
Terrell: Has reached double-figure scoring in four-straight games after reaching double figures just three times as a freshman … the 18 rebounds he secured against Youngstown State were one shy of matching the D-I program single-game record … enters the game as FGCU's second-leading scorer (12.2 ppg) and second-leading rebounder (5.8 rpg).
 
Norelia: A-Sun Player of the Week on Nov. 23 after averaging 22.3 points and 13 rebounds per game en route to helping lead the Eagles to three-straight wins … scored a D-I program record-tying 34 points against Youngstown State and finished one rebound shy of matching the D-I program single-game rebounding record with 18 … 31 of the points and 13 of the rebounds came in regulation … recorded three-straight double-doubles Nov. 16-22 to tie the program record, something which has only been done now five times.
 
Reid: Averaged eight points and eight assists per game over the course of the week en route to A-Sun Newcomer of the Week honors as the point guard issued 24 total assists and only turned the ball over five times. His best all-around game of the week came against Youngstown State as he scored 18 points and had five steals to go along with nine assists. He was rewarded for his play with his first start versus North Dakota where he still managed to nearly reach double-figure assists despite playing only 19 foul-plagued minutes.
 
FRESHMEN POINT GUARDS
After losing the A-Sun's all-time career assists leader in Brett Comer to graduation, FGCU was in search of a point guard, and the Eagles have received standout performances from a pair of freshmen already this year. True freshman Reid (Harlem, Ga./Harlem HS) ranks second in the A-Sun with 6.2 assists per game and has already turned in a pair of nine-assist performances.
 
Redshirt freshman Johnson is coming off a career-best 26-point night against Bowling Green in which he shot 11-13 from the floor, with the .846 shooting percentage ranking as the sixth-best single-game performance in program history. Johnson leads the A-Sun with a .655 field goal percentage (19-29). Reid (31) and Johnson (16) lead FGCU in assists as the two have played nearly the exact same amount of minutes (106 for Reid, 103 for Johnson).
 
UNEXPECTED ADDITIONS
NCAA officials cleared redshirt sophomore Antravious Simmons (Miami, Fla./VCU/South Miami HS) to play around mid-day on Nov. 13, the day prior to the start of the season, as he was expected to sit out through the completion of the fall semester after transferring from VCU in December of 2014. However, FGCU officials applied for a legislative relief waiver for Simmons – who in part transferred back to South Florida for family reasons – and it was granted just more than 24 hours before the season began. Simmons flew separately from the team, which had departed the day prior, and arrived at the team hotel around 9 p.m. and started for the Eagles at 2 p.m. in the season opener against Ohio. Simmons scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds in that game, including the first points of the game on the Eagles' first possession.
 
Uber-athletic and lengthy Demetris Morant (Miami, Fla./UNLV/Bishop Gorman HS) returned about a month earlier than expected on Nov. 22 against North Dakota following surgery to help repair a stress fracture in his right leg (medal rod remains in the leg). The surgery was performed on Oct. 2, and he was expected to be out 3-4 months.
 
NEXT UP
FGCU returns home to Alico Arena to face local NAIA foe Ave Maria on Sunday, Nov. 29, at 5 p.m.
 
TICKET INFORMATION
An extremely limited amount of season tickets are still available for the 2015-16 FGCU men's basketball season. Single-game tickets are currently on sale. For the latest ticket information, log on to FGCUAthletics.com or call the Alico Arena Ticket Office at 239-590-7145.

SOCIAL CENTRAL
For up-to-the-minute information and behind-the-scenes access to the men's basketball program, follow @FGCU_MBB on Twitter and Instagram, Like us on Facebook at /FGCUMBB and watch us on Snapchat at FGCU_MBB.
 
COACH DOOLEY 
FGCU is led by head coach Joe Dooley, who is in his third year with the Eagles in 2015-16 and coached six all-conference selections during his first two seasons. He guided FGCU to its first Atlantic Sun Conference Regular-Season Championship and first trip to the NIT in 2014, and in 2015 he led the Eagles to their third-straight 20-win season and third-straight postseason appearance with a berth in the CIT. 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. Dooley is in his seventh season overall as a head coach and has a record of 104-78 (.571), and in his two years with FGCU is 47-26 (.644).

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 visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.