HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – Looking to match the longest Division-I winning streak in program history, the surging FGCU men's basketball team (17-7, 7-1 Atlantic Sun Conference) will be in search of its seventh-straight victory when it takes on Northern Kentucky (10-13, 4-4 A-Sun) Thursday at 7 p.m.
 
SETTING THE STAGE
FGCU, ranked No. 18 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll, will be looking to either maintain a first-place tie atop the league standings with North Florida (15-10, 7-1 A-Sun) or move into sole possession of first place. The Ospreys face USC Upstate (18-7, 5-3 A-Sun) on the road Thursday night. The Spartans – who with five-straight wins own the second-longest streak in the conference – are the only A-Sun team to have defeated UNF this year.
 
The Eagles are coming off a 67-51 win at Stetson on Saturday for their third double-figure victory in a row. The second of those triumphs came just 13 days ago over NKU as the Green and Blue opened up a 13-point halftime lead and was never seriously threatened the rest of the way en route to a 74-64 win. During its current winning streak, FGCU has outscored its opponents by an average of 13.3 points per game.
 
NKU is coming off a 77-60 defeat of Lipscomb (10-13, 4-4 A-Sun) Saturday night as the Norse limited the Bisons to just 4-22 (18.2 percent) from the floor in the first half to create a 41-20 advantage at the break and never looked back. NKU is tied for fourth place in the A-Sun with Lipscomb, one game behind third-place Upstate as the FGCU and UNF have a two-game lead over the Spartans. Stetson (8-16, 2-6 A-Sun) and Kennesaw State (8-17, 2-6 A-Sun) are both tied for sixth place, with Jacksonville (7-18, 1-7 A-Sun) alone in eighth.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and via the WatchESPN app. Behind-the-scenes photos and information will also be posted by following @FGCU_MBB on Twitter and Instagram.
 
TWEETABLES (5 Things To Know In 140 Characters Or Less)
1) FGCU's six-game winning streak is one shy of tying a pair of seven-game runs from 2012-13 as the best in the D-I era.
2) NKU is one of four A-Sun members that FGCU has won at least five-straight games against (NKU, 5; Stetson, 6; Upstate, 6; KSU, 7).
3) Brett Comer (1,360) is eight points shy of moving into second place on the all-time FGCU scoring list (1st: Bernard Thompson (1,721)).
4) In all eight of its A-Sun games, FGCU has grabbed at least 13 offensive rebounds and scored at least 12 second-chance points.
5) Since 2012-13, FGCU is 36-1 when leading at the half; the lone loss came earlier this year to FIU (32-28 halftime lead).
 
SCOUTING NKU
^ NKU was tabbed for a fifth-place finish in the A-Sun preseason coaches and media polls.
^ With 10 victories, the Norse have already surpassed their win total from last year when they finished 9-21 (5-13 A-Sun).
^ In each of its eight A-Sun games, NKU has made more, or the same, amount of field goals as its opponents. However, in seven of eight contests, NKU opponents have made more, or the same, amount of free throws than the Norse.
^ Tayler Persons (12.2 points per game) and Jalen Billups (11.3 points per game) are NKU's two double-figure scorers. Billups also leads the Norse in rebounding with 5.3 caroms per game.
^ For the season, Billups is shooting 68.9 percent from the field (111-161 – no 3-point attempts), and that percentage ranks fourth in the nation. In A-Sun games, Billups is connecting at a 75.3-percent clip (55-73) – 13 percent better than anyone else in the league.
^ 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.
 
SERIES HISTORY
FGCU and NKU have only met five times, and while the average winning margin for the Green and Blue has been 12 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 their 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.
 
DOUBLE-DOUBLE HISTORY
Comer (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park HS) is the reigning A-Sun Player of the Week after he recorded 21 points, 12 assists (no turnovers) and eight rebounds against Stetson, falling just short of the program's first-ever triple-double. However, the 20-point, 10-assist double-double was only the third in program history, and Comer is now responsible for two of them which occurred this year. The senior also posted 28 points and 11 assists versus UC Santa Barbara on Nov. 17. The only other such double-double was during the 2004-05 season when Bryan Crislip scored 20 points and issued 11 assists opposite Arkansas Tech – the alma mater of current assistant coach Jamill Jones '08.
 
BLOCK PARTY
Demetris Morant (Miami, Fla./Bishop Gorman HS/UNLV) is the reigning A-Sun Newcomer of the Week after posting his best all-around game of his young career with nine points, a career-high 11 rebounds and a career-best seven blocks against Stetson. The seven rejections are the most ever for an FGCU player versus a D-I opponent, and were one shy of tying the all-time record of eight set by Nate Hicks (Panama City Beach, Fla./J.R. Arnold HS/Georgia Tech) against Eckerd last year.
 
D-CITY
In holding its opponents to 61.5 points per game this year, FGCU is on pace to easily post its best defensive season in program history. The current single-season record for scoring defense is 64.4 points per game in 2002-03 (program's first season), and the best single-season D-I record is 66.7 points per game during the Sweet 16 season of 2012-13.
 
BEST STARTS
At 17-7, FGCU is off to its best start in the D-I era, and the 7-1 A-Sun start is also the best in program history. Additionally, with 17 wins FGCU owns more victories than any other D-I team in the state of Florida.
 
RE-TWEETS (5 More Things To Know In 140 Characters Or Less)
1) The program's longest winning streak is 14, set in 2003-04 and 2006-07. The 2002-03 campaign featured an eight-game run.
2) FGCU's current .384 field-goal percentage defense and .260 3-point percentage defense are on pace to be single-season program records.
3) The Eagles rejected a season-high 11 shots against Stetson, tied for the second-most in program history (record: 13 vs. ETSU in 2012-13).
4) FGCU has recorded three-straight games with single-digit turnovers for just the second time in program history (Nov. 12-18 last year).
5) At 4.0 blocks per game, FGCU is on pace to set the single-season program record. Each of the top-4 single-season block records have come in the last four years.
 
NATIONAL STAT BREAKDOWN
FGCU boasts the nation's third-best perimeter defensive unit as the Eagles allow opponents to connect at only a 26-percent clip from 3-point range. Additionally, FGCU has claimed 930 total rebounds this year – good for the 23rd-most in the country and its .384 field-goal percentage defense ranks 26th in the nation.
 
A-SUN FAVORITES
For the second-straight season, FGCU was installed as 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 (Conyers, Ga./Rockdale County HS) 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 Jamail Jones (Atlanta, Ga./Montverde Academy/Marquette) joined Thompson on the A-Sun Preseason All-Conference Team as FGCU was the only school with two unanimous selections (Comer and Thompson), and was tied with the UNF for the most all-league selections with three.
 
THE ONLY ONE
FGCU is the only school in the A-Sun 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 A-Sun 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
 
DID YOU KNOW?
Thompson is the only active player (any division) with at least 1,700 career points (1,721), 550 career rebounds (569) and 240 career steals (247). Earlier this year the guard posted a D-I program-record 34-point performance in a victory over Ohio.
 
#DUNKCITY MAESTRO
With 164 assists on the year, Comer – who has 64 more assists than anyone else in the A-Sun – ranks fifth in the nation in total assists. Comer is second among all active players in the NCAA (any division) with 773 career assists as the Dunk City orchestrator is already the A-Sun's career assist leader. Comer – who earlier this year was tabbed by ESPN as the country's seventh-best point guard – is second in the nation in assist rate at 47 percent (assists divided by the field goals made by the player's teammates while he is on the court).
 
CHALLENING NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
FGCU completed a challenging non-conference schedule in which it defeated four 20-win opponents from a season ago (UC Santa Barbara, Ohio, San Francisco, Massachusetts) and another (South Dakota State) which won 19 contests. Four of FGCU's six losses came to teams ranked in the top 65 of the current RPI (five in the top 130 and none worse than 197). After getting off to 8-1 and 9-2 starts, FGCU lost four of its final five games in the 16-game non-league docket. However, due to injuries and suspensions, the Eagles only had a full roster for four non-conference games (South Dakota State, Florida Tech, UMass, FIU). FGCU's current RPI of 121 is by far the best in the A-Sun, with North Florida (203) being the next-closest team.
 
#DEPTHCITY
FGCU had five different leading scorers in the first eight games this year. The Eagles have 10 players averaging at least 10 minutes per game (only two, Thompson and Comer, who play at least 30 minutes per outing) and boast five players averaging at least 8 points per game (four who average at least 11 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 (with the exception of points):
 
Points: 3,081
Leaders: 3,172 by Saah Nimley & Arlon Harper (Charleston Southern)
Assists: 1,004
Next closest: 940 by Raheem Appleby & Kenneth Smith (Louisiana Tech)
Games Played: 253
Next closest: 238 by Traevon Jackson & Josh Gasser (Wisconsin)
Games Started: 246
Next closest: 209 by Traevon Jackson & Josh Gasser (Wisconsin)
Minutes: 7,443
Next closest: 6,797 by Traevon Jackson & Josh Gasser (Wisconsin)
 
THOMPSON
Points: 1,721 – A-Sun active career leader, 19th on the all-time conference scoring list and tops on the FGCU program career scoring record. 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 15th among all active D-I players for career points. He needs 11 points to surpass James Scott (Arkansas-Little Rock '91) for 18th place on the A-Sun all-time scoring list (1,731).
 
Steals: 247 – Fourth among all active D-I players, Thompson is already FGCU's program career leader, and needs just 13 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. Williams is the only player in the history of the A-Sun who has more steals than Thompson.
 
COMER
Assists: 773 – Comer is only four assists behind active career leader Kenneth Smith from Louisiana Teach (777). Of the 128 career games he has played in, Comer has led FGCU in assists 116 times.
 
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.
 
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.
 
#NESTPROTECTED
FGCU is 40-4 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 10-1 this season. Against A-Sun opponents during the regular season since 2012-13, FGCU is 21-1 at The Nest. The Eagles have won 19-straight regular-season games at Alico Arena against A-Sun foes.
 
HOME SUPPORT
FGCU has sold out 19 of its last 27 games, and through 11 home games this year, FGCU has totaled 47,511 fans for an average of 4,319 (capacity: 4,333 + 300 standing-room only tickets). That's 32 percent of the A-Sun's total home attendance (eight teams) of 147,837.
 
NEXT UP
FGCU continues its three-game road trip when it travels to Nashville to take on Lipscomb at 5 p.m. (EST) on Saturday, Feb. 14. The Bisons host Stetson on Thursday night.
 
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 visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.