DUNK CITY, Fla. – One of the hottest teams in the nation, the FGCU men's basketball team (20-7, 10-1 Atlantic Sun Conference) puts its nine-game winning streak on the line Saturday when the Eagles square off with the only other 20-win team in the league, USC Upstate (20-8, 7-4 A-Sun), at 7 p.m. inside Alico Arena on Alumni Weekend.
 
SETTING THE STAGE
FGCU – ranked No. 17 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll – is tied with Wisconsin for the fifth-longest winning streak in Division I, behind only Kentucky (26), Murray State (21), Gonzaga (20) and Northern Iowa (14). The Eagles survived at home on Thursday against Kennesaw State, 54-53, to remain in first place in the A-Sun, one game clear of North Florida (17-11, 9-2 A-Sun) and three games ahead of Upstate.
 
With a victory over the Spartans, FGCU will guarantee itself no worse than a second-place finish in the league. The contest with Upstate is the second of a three-game homestand which will conclude against UNF (Feb. 25) before FGCU wraps up the regular season at Jacksonville (Feb. 28). The Eagles control their own destiny to repeat as A-Sun regular-season champions, and with two more home victories would clinch the No. 1 seed and subsequent tournament hosting responsibilities throughout each round of the championship provided they do not lose.
 
WHAT TO KNOW
Just 100 standing-room-only tickets remain, and they can only be purchased in person (first-come, first-served) at the Alico Arena Ticket Office starting at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. Like all FGCU home games, the contest 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.
 
Saturday is a PINKOUT, with pink FGCU T-shirts available for purchase in the lobby for $10. All proceeds go to support Coaches vs. Cancer. Additionally, raffle tickets to the 2015 Final Four will be available for purchase at the marketing tables immediately upon entry into the arena. The grand prize is a trip for two to the semifinal and final games, a $1,000 travel allowance and hotel accommodations.
 
At 3:30, former FGCU men's and women's basketball players will play a game in Alico as part of the university's Alumni Weekend. Admission is free, and the public is welcome to watch the players who helped lay the foundations for what have become two of the best mid-major programs in the country. A complete list of competing players is at the end of this release.
 
TWEETABLES (5 Things To Know In 140 Characters Or Less)
1) FGCU's nine-game winning streak is the longest in D-I program history, with only a pair of 14-game runs in 2003-04 and 2006-07 being better.
2) A victory would give head coach Joe Dooley his 100th career win (99-72). Dooley is in his sixth season overall (four at East Carolina).
3) FGCU's last two games have both been decided by less than five points; the only other such game this year was at Upstate (71-68).
4) A win would even FGCU's all-time A-Sun record at 71-71. The Eagles haven't been .500 in the A-Sun since they were 4-4 in 2007-08.
5) FGCU overcame an eight-point halftime deficit on Thursday, the largest since an eight-point deficit against Upstate at Alico last year.
 
SCOUTING USC UPSTATE
^ Upstate is the only A-Sun team to have defeated North Florida this year, and the Spartans have clipped the Ospreys twice. Upstate's league losses have come to FGCU, Lipscomb, Northern Kentucky and Jacksonville.
^ FGCU and Upstate rank first and second, respectively, in A-Sun games in points allowed (59.5 and 65.5) and rebound margin (+6.1 and +4.2).
^ The Spartans have won seven of their last eight, with the only setback coming in somewhat surprising fashion at home to Jacksonville, 89-70, as Upstate held a 14-point lead with 14 minutes remaining.
^ Senior guard Ty Greene leads the A-Sun and ranks 20th nationally in scoring at 19.5 points per game – nearly 2.5 points better than anyone else in the league.
 
CHASING HISTORY
Dooley – who spent 10 seasons as Bill Self's top assistant at Kansas prior to being hired at FGCU in April of 2013 – posted a 57-52 record in four years at East Carolina as a head coach from 1995-99. He's only the third coach in FGCU history, and already has more victories than former head man Andy Enfield had in his two seasons.
 
YEARS: NAME (RECORD AT FGCU)
2002-11: Dave Balza (153-121, .558 win percentage)
2011-13: Andy Enfield (41-28, .594 win percentage)
2013- Joe Dooley (42-20, .677 win percentage)
 
COACHING TIES
Upstate is led by head coach Eddie Payne, who is in his 13th season with the Spartans and has a long history with Dooley. Dooley and Payne were both assistants at South Carolina from 1988-91 before Dooley served as Payne's assistant once he accepted the head coaching job at East Carolina from 1991-95. Dooley then took over for Payne as ECU's head coach following Payne's departure to take the head coaching job at Oregon State.
 
SERIES HISTORY
FGCU leads the all-time series, 11-4, following the aforementioned 71-68 triumph in Spartanburg last month. Four of the last five meetings have been decided by four points or less, with FGCU winning all of them. Upstate is one of four A-Sun members that FGCU has won at least six-straight games against:
 
Kennesaw State: 8
USC Upstate: 6
Stetson: 6
Northern Kentucky: 6
 
RE-TWEETS (5 More Things To Know In 140 Characters Or Less)
1) FGCU has held 12 opponents this year to 60 points or less in a game, and four opponents to 50 points or less.
2) The single-season program record for holding opponents to 60 or less is 13 in 2012-13, and for 50 or less is five in 2004-05.
3) FGCU also owns a five-game road win streak (T-8th nationally) and a seven-game home win streak (T-23rd nationally).
4) Since 2012-13, FGCU is 37-1 when leading at halftime, with the lone loss coming to FIU this year (32-28 halftime score).
5) FGCU won its first game of the year when trailing with five minutes left against Kennesaw; it added a season-high 20 offensive rebounds and season-low five turnovers.
 
#NESTPROTECTED
FGCU is 41-4 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 11-1 this season. In A-Sun regular-season games since 2012-13, FGCU is a dominant 22-1 inside the friendly confines of The Nest, and has won 20 in a row.
 
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 67.7 percent (151-223) at home and 69.8 percent (118-169) on the road.
 
Category: Home / Away
PPG: 71.0 / 64.5
D-PPG: 59.0 / 67.8
FG%: 45.5 / 41.5
D-FG%: 37.3 / 41.6
3-PT%: 34.4 / 33.3
RPG: 40.5 / 35.8
APG: 15.0 / 13.2
 
HOME SUPPORT
FGCU has sold out 20 of its last 28 games, and through 12 home games this year, FGCU has totaled 52,144 fans for an average of 4,345 (capacity: 4,333 + 300 standing-room only tickets). That's 32 percent of the A-Sun's total home attendance (eight teams) of 164,628.
 
BEST START
At 20-7, FGCU is off to its best start to a season in D-I program history, while its 10-1 commencement to the A-Sun campaign is its best ever. The Eagles have gradually improved their record through the first 27 games of a season in all but one year since 2009-10, while its A-Sun record through 11 games has improved in each of the past five seasons:
 
YEAR: OVERALL / A-SUN (Through 27 /11 Games)
2014-15: 20-7 / 10-1
2013-14: 17-10 / 9-2
2012-13: 19-8 / 8-3
2011-12: 13-14 / 7-4
2010-11: 8-19 / 2-9
 
STREAKING WITH THE 'ZAGS
While FGCU has won nine games in a row, the women's basketball team – which cracked the top 25 this week for the first time in program history at No. 22/24 – has won 19-straight games. The only other school in the nation that has a men's basketball team and a women's basketball team each with at least a nine-game winning streak is Gonzaga. The Bulldog men have won 20 straight, while the women have claimed 16 consecutive victories.
 
NEXT UP
FGCU concludes its homestand with UNF next Wednesday, Feb. 25, in a contest that will almost certainly determine the A-Sun regular-season champion. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m., and it will also be Senior Night for Brett Comer (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park HS), Bernard Thompson (Conyers, Ga./Rockdale County HS), Jamail Jones (Atlanta, Ga./Montverde Academy/Marquette), Nate Hicks (Panama City Beach, Fla./J.R. Arnold HS/Georgia Tech) and Marcus Blake (Miami, Fla./American Heritage HS).
 
Additionally, Dick Vitale will be holding a book signing in the Alico Arena Auxiliary Gym from 4-6 p.m. and will then remain in the building to interact with the fans and watch the Eagles square off against the Ospreys. Fans can purchase copies of his latest book: "It's Awesome Baby! 75 Years of Memories and a Lifetime of Opinions on the Game I Love" by clicking here or by calling Denise Da Silveira, Assistant AD for Marketing & Sales, at 239-590-7060.
 
COMPETING ALUMNI
Andrew French - 2004
Doug Kollmer - 2006
Chad Lutkenhaus - 2011
Darrin Wallace - 2005
Amanda Pointelin - 2014
Tesharia Folkes - 2013
Leon Woodstock - 2008
Eddie Murray - 2012
Ryan Hopkins - 2007
Marcus Watts - 2005
Juan Cedeno - 2005
Roman Brown - 2004
Michael Anderson - 2005
Adam Liddell - 2008
 
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.