DUNK CITY, Fla. – Looking to conclude a perfect six-game homestand, the FGCU men's basketball team (11-7, 2-0 A-Sun) welcomes USC Upstate (7-12, 1-1 A-Sun) to Alico Arena for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Saturday.
 
OPENING TIP
FGCU has won five games in a row and will be looking to complete its six-game homestand without a loss while also opening Atlantic Sun Conference play 3-0 for just the second time in program history. The Eagles are coming off an 82-78 overtime victory versus NJIT on Thursday night, while USC Upstate dropped an 89-86 overtime decision to Stetson on Thursday evening. Despite its recent success and owning seven more conference wins than any other team in the league since 2012-13, FGCU's best start to an A-Sun season came in 2013-14 when the Eagles began 4-0.
 
MILESTONE MARKS
FGCU enters Saturday's game with an all-time record (since 2002-03) of 249-180 (.580). The Eagles will not only be looking for their 250th all-time victory, but also to get their all-time A-Sun record over .500 as FGCU is 73-73 in A-Sun contests. The Eagles have not been over .500 all-time in A-Sun games since they were 4-3 in their inaugural A-Sun and D-I season in 2007-08.
 
A-SUN STANDINGS
North Florida: 3-0
FGCU: 2-0
USC Upstate: 1-1
Jacksonville: 1-1
Kennesaw State: 1-1
Stetson: 1-2
NJIT: 0-2
Lipscomb: 0-2
 
WHAT TO KNOW
Tickets are still available and can be secured by logging on to FGCUAthletics.com/Tickets or by visiting the Alico Arena Ticket Office. For those not able to make it to The Nest, the game – like all FGCU home contests – will be broadcast on ESPN3 and via the WatchESPN app with David Moulton and J. Webb Horton on the call. Additionally, live stats are available, and a multitude of social media platforms can also be accessed at the top of this release for fans to keep up with the action and behind-the-scenes coverage.
 
Saturday is Military Appreciation Night. Current and former military personnel will be recognized throughout the night for their service, and Bank of America will be presenting a $1,000 scholarship to a veteran. Additionally, the Wounded Warrior Amputee Softball Team will be honored at the game before playing an exhibition contest versus the FGCU Celebrity Team at Swanson Stadium on Sunday at 2 p.m.
 
Additionally, the Chris and Brianne Sale Laces of Love drive will also be taking place. Fans are encouraged to donate new shoes – in particular sneakers – or to contribute financially, with all proceeds and shoes collected going directly to low income and disadvantaged children in Lee and Collier counties. Those who plan to donate shoes are asked to do so only with new shoes, with boys and girls sizes 1-8 being the most commonly needed.
 
TWEETABLES
1) FGCU has already played four overtime games, setting a single-season program record. In its entire pre-D-I history (2002-06), FGCU played three total OT contests.
2) Thursday marked the sixth time this year FGCU had a game decided by five points or less. The Eagles are 3-3 in such games, and 6-6 in games decided by 10 points or less.
3) The Eagles have secured at least 30 points in the paint in every game this year except one (Florida, 26).
4) FGCU has scored 80 or more points in half of its 18 games already this year after reaching that mark just 12 total times in the previous two years.
5) Demetris Morant was a late scratch Thursday (right leg). X-rays on Friday were negative, and he will be a game-time decision Saturday.
 
SERIES HISTORY
FGCU will be looking to avenge a 63-62 loss at home to USC Upstate in the A-Sun Championship semifinals last year in a game which all-time leading scorer Bernard Thompson missed the potential game-tying free throw with 1.4 seconds left. The Upstate victory snapped a seven-game winning streak in the series by the Eagles, who still hold a 12-5 all-time advantage over the Spartans. FGCU had just a 5-4 edge in the series prior to the seven-game winning streak. Five of the last seven meetings between the Eagles and Spartans have been decided by four points or less.
 
COACHING TIES
Upstate is led by head coach Eddie Payne, who is in his 14th season with the Spartans and has a long history with third-year FGCU head coach  Joe 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 from 1995-99 following Payne's departure to take the head coaching job at Oregon State.
 
SCOUTING USC UPSTATE
^ Upstate was picked to finish 6th in the A-Sun preseason poll after losing four starters from a team that went 24-12 last year and was one of three current league members to participate in the CIT (FGCU, NJIT).
^ The Spartans started the season 0-7, but had won four in a row before dropping the aforementioned contest at Stetson Thursday night. Upstate held a 17-point second-half lead at NJIT last Saturday, but defeated the Highlanders with a tip-in at the buzzer, 80-78.
^ FGCU and Upstate both played now-No. 14 Texas A&M in the non-conference schedule, with the Eagles losing 75-65 and the Spartans falling 104-64.
^ Deion Holmes is Upstate's only double-figure scorer at 13.2 points per game. He is followed by Mike Cunningham – who scored a career-high 21 points at Stetson – at 9.7 points per game, Michael Buchanan – the reigning A-Sun Co-Player of the Week – at 9.5 points per game and Josh Cuthbertson at 9.2 points per game.
^ With a record of 207-215 at Upstate, Payne is second on the program's all-time wins list. Now is his 31st season overall, he has a career record of 467-448.
 
LOW-POST PRESENCE
If the lengthy 6-9 Morant (Miami, Fla./UNLV/Bishop Gorman HS) is able to play, it will give the Eagles a big boost in the low blocks as FGCU and USC Upstate are the only two teams in the A-Sun that have a positive rebound differential. The Eagles lead the league with a +4.4 rebound margin, while Upstate is +2.1. FGCU also paces the conference and ranks 13th in the nation by corralling 42.4 rebounds per game, while Upstate grabs 37.4. All 11 of FGCU's wins this year have come when it has out-rebounded its opponent.
 
A-SUN RANKS
In addition to rebounding, FGCU leads the A-Sun in four other key categories: points allowed (69.8), field-goal percentage defense (39.8), 3-point percentage defense (26.2) and scoring margin (+7.9).
 
AMONG THE BEST
That 3-point percentage defense has become a staple of the Eagles as FGCU is ranked 2nd in the nation, behind just Akron (24.2). The Eagles finished 5th in the country in that category last year (24.6 percent).
 
A-SUN SUCCESS
Since the start of the 2012-13 season, FGCU boasts a 40-12 (.769) record in A-Sun games – seven more wins than any other team in the league (North Florida, 33).
 
BY THE NUMBERS
FGCU has the following records in 2+ years under the direction of Dooley:
 
Leading At The Half: 43-3 (.935)
Scoring At Least 80 Points: 19-2 (.905)
Grabbing More Rebounds: 46-5 (.902)
Holding Opponent Below 40% FG: 34-4 (.895)
Scoring At Least 70 Points: 35-5 (.875)
 
PLAYER QUICK HITS
^ Redshirt freshman Zach Johnson (Miami, Fla./Norland HS) has reached double-figure points in five-straight games as he enters the contest as FGCU's third-leading scorer at 9.3 per game.
^ After hitting just 11 3-pointers in the 11 games before FGCU's current five-game winning streak, redshirt senior Filip Cvjeticanin (Zagreb, Croatia/American School of Madrid) has knocked down 12 triples in the last five contests. Cvjeticanin is 5th on the program's all-time 3-pointers made list with 171, and 3rd among all D-I players. The D-I record is held by 2014 graduate Thompson with 219. Cvjeticanin is four 3-pointers shy of moving into 4th place all-time (Bryan Crislip, 2002-05) and eight 3s shy of overtaking 2nd place on the D-I list (Christophe Varidel, 2010-13). Ryan Hopkins (2002-05) holds the all-time record with 355.
^ Morant has 66 career blocks, just 14 shy of moving into 2nd place on the program's all-time list. Chase Fieler (2010-14) owns the all-time record with 134 rejections.
 
HOME SUCCESS
FGCU is 53-10 (.841) at Alico Arena since 2012-13. Seven of those 10 losses have come since the start of the 2014-15 season. FGCU is 10-3 at home this year, was 13-4 last year, went 15-2 in 2013-14 and 15-1 in 2012-13.
 
Versus A-Sun foes during the regular season since 2012-13, FGCU is 25-2 (.926) at The Nest. The Eagles had won 21 straight regular-season games at Alico against A-Sun competition before losing to North Florida in the home regular-season finale last year (other loss: Lipscomb in overtime during the 2012-13 season).
 
ON RECORD PACE
FGCU is on pace for several D-I and all-time program records this year:
 
Points Per Game: 77.7 – Would break the D-I record of 72.9 set by the Sweet Sixteen team in 2012-13.
Rebounds Per Game: 42.4 – Would set the D-I record, besting each of the previous two years (38.1 in 2014-15 and 36.6 in 2013-14).
Field-Goal Percentage: 46.3 – Would be the 2nd-best all-time, just behind the record of 46.7 percent in 2013-14.
Blocks Per Game: 4.7 – Would shatter the best mark all-time as no team has ever even averaged 4 blocks per game in a season.
Scoring Margin: +7.9 – Would be the best in D-I history, besting the previous mark of +6.1 in 2012-13.
 
BREAKOUT SEASONS
Redshirt junior Marc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Tulane/Olympia HS) tied the D-I program single-season record of seven double-doubles held by Fieler in 2013-14 with team-bests of 18 points and 13 rebounds Thursday night against NJIT. Norelia is 2nd in the A-Sun in rebounding at 8.8 per outing, 7th in field-goal percentage (53.6) and 7th in scoring with 16.1 points per game. Norelia has come one rebound short of a double-double on three other occasions already this year as well. The all-time single-season program record for double-doubles is nine, held by Robinson Tisme in the program's first season in 2002-03. Norelia has been named A-Sun Player of the Week and A-Sun Co-Player of the Week this year.
 
After averaging just 3.3 points per game last year, sophomore Christian Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) has catapulted to 13.5 per game this year – an increase of 10.2 – and has led the Eagles in scoring six times. Not only is the 6-5 Terrell getting the job done on the offensive end, he also enters Saturday's contest with the third-most rebounds on the team this year with 84.
 
YOUNG, TALENTED AND DEEP
FGCU has just two seniors on its roster, and so far this year 83 percent of its scoring, 87 percent of its rebounding (excluding team rebounds) and 86 percent of its assists have come from non-seniors.
 
Not only are the Eagles young and talented, but they are deep as already this year 10 different players have reached double-figure points in a game. The only teams in the nation with more are Boston University (12) and Georgia Southern (11). Below is a list of players who have already scored 10 or more points in a game, their season high and how many times they've led the team in scoring.
 
R-Jr. Norelia (8): 34
R-Fr. Johnson (2): 26
So. Terrell (6): 25
R-Sr. Julian DeBose (1): 20
R-Sr. Cvjeticanin (1): 18
Fr. Reggie Reid: 18
R-So. Antravious Simmons: 17
Fr. Rayjon Tucker: 15
R-So. Kevin Mickle: 14
R-Jr. Morant: 11
 
In a further testament to the youthful and talented group, Reid (Harlem, Ga./Harlem HS) leads all A-Sun freshmen in assists per game (4.1) and ranks as the top first-year player in the nation in assist rate at 36.1 percent, Terrell leads all A-Sun sophomores in points per game (13.5), Simmons (Miami, Fla./VCU/South Miami HS) leads all A-Sun sophomores in rebounds per game (5.2) and Norelia is second among all A-Sun juniors in rebounds per game (8.8).
 
CHALLENGING NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
FGCU currently has a non-conference strength of schedule of 77, higher than a plethora of Power 5 programs, including five of the top 10 teams in the nation (No. = rank in national polls): No. 2 Oklahoma (103), No. 3 Maryland (134), No. 4 Michigan State (86), No. 8 Miami (108) and No. 10 West Virginia (235).
 
All but one of FGCU's seven losses have come against top-150 RPI teams, including two losses to top-30 teams (#10 Texas A&M, 75-65; #29 Florida, 70-50, and four to top-100 opponents (#61 South Dakota State, 56-52; #98 Louisiana Tech, 66-63) – and three of those four losses came by 10 points or less. FGCU has also dropped an 85-75 decision at #125 Ohio and an 89-81 overtime decision in Sioux Falls against #149 South Dakota.
 
GOLDEN SUMMER
DeBose (Washington, D.C./Rice/St. John College HS) won a gold medal as part of Team USA at the World University Games (WUG) this summer in South Korea ... was one of only two players (SMU's Nic Moore) on the team not from Kansas University ... finished the tournament averaging 4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 10.8 minutes per contest ... scored a team-high 18 points in the USA's final group-round game against Switzerland ... connected on 50 percent (13-26) of his shots from the floor during the WUG, including 3-8 from 3-point range ... added nine offensive and nine defensive rebounds, with the nine offensive boards representing the second-most by any guard on the roster  ... also contributed six steals and a block as Team USA won its games by an average of 20.3 points.
 
NEXT UP
FGCU will play its first true road game since Dec. 6 at FIU when the Eagles travel to face Kennesaw State on Thursday, Jan. 21, at 7 p.m. FGCU then travels to Nashville on Friday before battling Lipscomb on Saturday, Jan. 23, at 5 p.m. Eastern.
 
TICKET INFORMATION
Single-game tickets are currently on sale for all remaining home contests. 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 112-83 (.574), and in his 2+ years with FGCU is 55-31 (.640).
 
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.