JACKSONVILLE – With an opportunity to win its second-straight Atlantic Sun Conference regular-season championship, the FGCU men's basketball team (21-8, 11-2 A-Sun) faces Jacksonville University (9-21, 3-10 A-Sun) on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 2 p.m.
 
SETTING THE STAGE
FGCU enters its regular-season finale tied with North Florida (19-11, 11-2 A-Sun) for first place in the league. However, the Ospreys own a pair of head-to-head victories over the Eagles, so if the teams finish tied they will share the title, but UNF will earn the No. 1 seed in next week's A-Sun tournament.
 
The only way FGCU will get the No. 1 seed is if it defeats Jacksonville and UNF loses at home to Stetson (9-20, 3-10 A-Sun) Saturday night. The Eagles will earn no worse than a No. 2 seed in the conference tournament regardless of any outcomes Saturday, and will face either Jacksonville or Stetson in the quarterfinals at Alico Arena on Tuesday, Mar. 3, at 7 p.m.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and via the Watch ESPN app. Additionally, Tom James will have an audio-exclusive broadcast on FGCUAthletics.com. Behind-the-scenes photos and information will also be posted by following @FGCU_MBB on Twitter and Instagram.
 
TWEETABLES RELEASE (5 Things To Know In 140 Characters Or Less)
1) FGCU had its 10-game winning streak, the third longest in program history, snapped against UNF on Wednesday night.
2) In the first meeting this year, FGCU earned its largest victory of the season, 79-50, over JU following a road loss to UNF.
3) FGCU has posted three-straight single-digit turnover games and now has 12 in the last two years. It had only 10 all-time (from 2002) prior to 2013.
4) Bernard Thompson needs only three thefts to take over the A-Sun career steals record, currently held by Vaughn Williams (259).
5) FGCU, which leads the A-Sun in points allowed in league games, has surrendered consecutive 70-point contests in conference action for the first time this year.
 
SCOUTING JACKSONVILLE
^ Jacksonville opened its A-Sun schedule with a 1-1 record before snapping a seven-game losing streak at USC Upstate (21-9, 8-5 A-Sun) on Feb. 14. The Dolphins followed that win up with a victory over Northern Kentucky (11-16, 6-7 A-Sun) before dropping each of their last two games to Lipscomb (12-16, 6-7 A-Sun) and at Stetson.
^ JU has only one senior on its roster (Jeremy Bogus, who has played 30 minutes all year), and is led in scoring by Kori Babineaux with 14.5 per game. In conference games the junior is averaging 16.2 per contest, tied for the fifth most in the league.
^ Andris Misters is JU's only other double-figure scorer (12.3 per game). Freshman Antwon Clayton leads all A-Sun first-year players and Jacksonville in rebounding at 5.1 per outing.
 
SERIES HISTORY (Jacksonville Leads, 8-7)
The two sides first met in January 2008 in FGCU's first season in the A-Sun, and Jacksonville welcomed the Eagles to the league by handing them seven-straight losses. However, beginning with the second meeting of the 2010-11 campaign, the tide began to shift in favor of FGCU, which has won seven of the last eight meetings, including a stretch of five in a row which was snapped at JU last year.
 
3-POINT EMPHASIS
Saturday will mark the second time in as many games that FGCU faces a top-ranked 3-point shooting team. Jacksonville ranks second in A-Sun games from beyond the arc, connecting at 36.7 percent. UNF, FGCU's opponent on Wednesday, leads the A-Sun in conference games by hitting at a 40.7-percent clip from long range.
 
FGCU leads the A-Sun and ranks fourth nationally in 3-point percentage defense (27.7). However, on Wednesday the Ospreys made nine 3-pointers and shot 56.3 percent from beyond the arc – the highest percentage any team has connected at against the Eagles this year. In the first meeting of the season, UNF made 12 triples – the most by any FGCU opponent.
 
REBOUNDING EDGE
FGCU leads the A-Sun in league games by grabbing 39.5 per outing, while Jacksonville ranks last by only corralling 30.8 per contest. However, like the 3-point shooting, UNF hurt FGCU on the boards Wednesday as the Ospreys out-rebounded the Eagles, 42-32. The -10 rebound margin was the worst FGCU has finished with in an A-Sun game since the league opener last season against Northern Kentucky when the Norse finished +11 (41-30) in an FGCU win.
 
RE-TWEETS (5 More Things To Know In 140 Characters Or Less)
1) With an appearance in Saturday's game, Brett Comer will tie 2014 graduate Chase Fieler on the FGCU career games played list (134).
2) Thompson grabbed six rebounds against UNF to become just the second player in program history with 600 career rebounds (602; Fieler, 714).
3) FGCU has tied a single-season program record (2012-13 Sweet Sixteen team) by holding 13 opponents to 60 points or less.
4) Since 2012-13, FGCU is 38-1 when leading at halftime, with the lone loss coming to FIU this year (32-28 halftime score).
5) Marc-Eddy Norelia scored FGCU's first 10 points of the game Wednesday en route to finishing with a career-high 19.
 
IN SEARCH OF HISTORY
FGCU has never reached 22 regular-season victories in D-I program history, but will with a victory over Jacksonville. A triumph would also give the Eagles a final 12-2 mark in A-Sun action, with the .857 winning percentage ranking as the best in program history.
 
HEAD OF THE STATE
Despite the loss to UNF on Wednesday, FGCU still owns more victories than any other Division I team in the state of Florida. FGCU is the lone 20-win team in the state (21) and UNF is second with 19 victories, one more than Miami.
 
COMING ON STRONG
Demetris Morant (Miami, Fla./Bishop Gorman HS/UNLV) blocked a game-high five shots against UNF, tied for the fifth most in FGCU single-game program history. Earlier this year Morant rejected seven shots at Stetson, the most against a D-I team in program history. Morant has blocked at least one shot in eight-straight games, and in A-Sun contests he's averaging 1.8 blocks per game, ranking second in the league.
 
DID YOU KNOW?
Thompson is the only active player (any division) with at least 1,700 career points (1,778), 600 career rebounds (602) and 250 career steals (257). Earlier this year the guard posted a D-I program-record 34-point performance in a victory over Ohio.
 
#DUNKCITY MAESTRO
With 203 assists on the year, Comer – who has 86 more assists than anyone else in the A-Sun – ranks fourth in the nation in total assists. Comer leads all active players in the NCAA (any division) with 812 career assists as the Dunk City orchestrator is already the program and A-Sun 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 46 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. Three of FGCU's six losses came to teams ranked in the top 50 of the current RPI (four in the top 65 and five in the top 115). 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 110 is by far the best in the A-Sun, with UNF (165) being the next-closest team.

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: 3,204
Leaders: 3,336 by Saah Nimley & Arlon Harper (Charleston Southern)
Assists: 1,052
Next closest: 974 by Raheem Appleby & Kenneth Smith (Louisiana Tech)
Games Played: 263
Next closest: 243 by Traevon Jackson & Josh Gasser (Wisconsin)
Games Started: 256
Next closest: 214 by Traevon Jackson & Josh Gasser (Wisconsin)
Minutes: 7,790
Next closest: 6,982 by Traevon Jackson & Josh Gasser (Wisconsin)
 
THOMPSON
Points: 1,778 – A-Sun active career leader, 16th 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 six points to surpass Mike Smith (ETSU 06-11) for 15th place on the A-Sun all-time scoring list (1,783).
 
Steals: 257 – Fourth among all active D-I players, Thompson is already FGCU's program career leader, and needs just three 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: 812 – Comer is eight assists ahead of his next-closest competitor (Louisiana Tech's Kenneth Smith, 804). Of the 133 career games he has played in, Comer has led FGCU in assists 121 times. Comer needs just 21 helpers to crack the top 25 all-time career assists list in NCAA history.
 
A-SUN FAVORITES
For the second-straight season, FGCU was 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 (Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park HS) and 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 D-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
 
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.
 
A-SUN TOURNAMENT
General-admission tickets for FGCU's A-Sun Tournament home games are now on sale to the general public for $15 per game. They 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. Season ticket holders should have already received email correspondence with instructions as to how to secure their seats in advance. FGCU will open the tournament at home on Tuesday, Mar. 3, at 7 p.m., and with a win will also host a semifinal game on Thursday, Mar. 5, at 7 p.m.

IT'S AWESOME, BABY
Dick Vitale held a book signing in the Alico Arena Auxiliary Gym on Wednesday, but it's not too late for fans to still purchase autographed 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 239-590-7060. All proceeds from the book will be donated to The V Foundation for children battling pediatric cancer.
 
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, 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.