JACKSONVILLE – Looking to get back into 2nd place in the Atlantic Sun Conference standings, the FGCU men's basketball team (13-10, 4-3 A-Sun) faces Jacksonville (13-11, 5-2 A-Sun) for the second time in six days Monday at Swisher Gymnasium in a 7 p.m. tipoff.
 
OPENING TIP
Monday will mark the third of four-straight games for 3rd-place FGCU against either 2nd-place Jacksonville or 1st-place North Florida (18-6, 7-0 A-Sun). The Eagles are coming off an 82-76 loss at UNF Saturday night, and also lost at home to Jacksonville Wednesday night, 78-69. Following Monday's game, FGCU and UNF will meet again, this time at Alico Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m.
 
A-SUN STANDINGS
North Florida: 7-0
Jacksonville: 5-2
FGCU: 4-3
Lipscomb: 3-4
NJIT: 3-4
Stetson: 2-5
Kennesaw State: 2-5
USC Upstate: 1-5
 
TWEETABLES
1) Redshirt senior Julian DeBose enters the game 14 points shy of 1,000 for his career. He would be the 7th player in program history to reach the milestone.
2) FGCU has not lost four-straight games overall since 2011-12, and hasn't dropped four consecutively in the A-Sun since 2010-11.
3) The Eagles scored 56 points in the paint at UNF, the most ever in a road game and the second-most in program history (58 vs. Jacksonville in 2013-14).
4) FGCU has allowed four-consecutive opponents to shoot at least 40 percent from 3-point range. That occurred just once all year prior to the stretch.
5) The Eagles attempted just six 3-pointers at UNF, tied for the fewest in program history (six vs. Jacksonville in 2009-10).
 
3-POINT BARRAGE
For the fourth-straight game – and part of a stretch of five in a row – FGCU will face a top-11 nationally-ranked 3-point offense. Jacksonville is 11th in the country with 220 made 3s, UNF leads the nation by a wide margin with 303 and Lipscomb, which defeated the Eagles last Sunday, is 2nd in the country with 263.
 
FGCU entered the game against Lipscomb ranked 2nd in the nation in 3-point percentage defense at .272, but is now 30th in the country in that category at .307. Lipscomb went 19-33 (57.6 percent) from beyond the arc, JU went 8-18 (44.4 percent) and UNF went 13-32 (40.6 percent). The Eagles finished 5th in the nation last year in 3-point percentage defense at .246.
 
In addition to the 19 3-pointers Lipscomb made being the most in school history, it was the most FGCU has ever given up in the Division-I era and tied for the most all-time. The 19 3-pointers were tied for the most by any team in the nation this year, but UNF broke that mark just a few hours later when the Ospreys made 20 3-pointers at NJIT.
 
Then on Wednesday, JU's Josh Adeyeye scored 35 points – the most points a player has ever scored against FGCU in the D-I era (since 2007-08) and the second-most all-time (since 2002-03).
 
SERIES HISTORY: Jacksonville Leads, 10-8
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 eight of the last 11 meetings, including a stretch of five in a row. Needing a win at JU in the regular-season finale last year to clinch at least a second-straight NIT berth, FGCU lost to the Dolphins, 75-67, before bouncing back with a win three days later at home versus JU in the A-Sun quarterfinals, 81-63, and then losing at Alico on Wednesday evening.
 
SCOUTING JACKSONVILLE
^ Jacksonville was picked to finish 5th in the A-Sun Preseason Poll after going 4-10 in league action last year and finishing in a tie for 6th.
^ With 13 wins, the Dolphins have already surpassed their win total from all of last year (10-22).
^ JU enters on a three-game winning streak and has won five of its last six overall. The Dolphins are coming off a 75-60 win at home Saturday night over Stetson, and prior to their win at FGCU had defeated USC Upstate on the road, 77-68. JU has lost at North Florida, 83-68, and at NJIT, 83-63.
^ Unanimous preseason all-league selection Kori Babineaux is 4th in the A-Sun with 18 points per game. The senior also leads JU in assists at 3.7 per outing and is 2nd in rebounding at 4.8. Marcel White averages 15.8 points per game for JU, while Darius Dawkins was averaging 13.9 points per game and ranked 4th in the nation with 3.7 3-pointers per game before suffering a knee injury a couple weeks ago which will likely keep him sidelined the rest of the season.
^ Tony Jasik is in his second season as the head coach at Jacksonville after previously serving as the head coach at IPFW for three years, increasing the team's win total each year and culminating in a CIT appearance in 2014 after going 25-11.
 
PLAYER QUICK HITS
^ Freshman Reggie Reid (Harlem, Ga./Harlem HS) ranks 2nd among all freshmen nationally in assist rate at 33.5 percent – the percentage of field goals made by a team that a player assists on while in the game.
^ Redshirt sophomore Antravious Simmons (Miami, Fla./VCU/South Miami HS) posted personal A-Sun highs of 11 points and nine rebounds at UNF Saturday.
^ Redshirt senior Filip Cvjeticanin (Zagreb, Croatia/American School of Madrid) is tied for 3rd on the program's all-time 3-pointers made list with 178, and is tied for 2nd among all D-I players. The D-I record is held by 2014 graduate Bernard Thompson with 219. Ryan Hopkins (2002-05) holds the all-time record with 355.
^ Redshirt junior Demetris Morant (Miami, Fla./UNLV/Bishop Gorman HS) 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.
 
RE-TWEETS
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) Seven times this year FGCU has had a game decided by five points or less. The Eagles are 4-3 in such games, and 7-8 in games decided by 10 points or less.
3) FGCU has posted six single-digit turnover games this year. The single-season program record is eight set last year.
4) Sophomore Christian Terrell recorded his second career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds last time out against Jacksonville.
5) As a result of his recent scoring surge, Zach Johnson is 2nd on FGCU in scoring in A-Sun games at 14.7 per game.
 
RECAPPING UNF
FGCU shot 48.4 percent (31-64) from the floor – the highest in a loss this year – compared with UNF's 45.8 percent (27-59). The Eagles also secured a 41-30 rebound edge which led to a 12-10 advantage in second-chance points. FGCU dominated the low blocks with 56 points in the paint to just 24 for the Ospreys, but the difference came from the 3-point line as UNF went 13-32 (40.6 percent) compared with 2-6 (33.3 percent) for FGCU.
 
Neither team led by more than six all night until midway through the second half when UNF made a game-altering 13-4 run – including a quick 7-0 spurt in less than two minutes – to open up a 71-58 lead with just under 8 minutes remaining. Showing a ton of grit, the young and short-handed Eagles clawed nearly all the way back to trail by just two in the closing minutes, but UNF held on for its 18th-straight home win.
 
Marc-Eddy Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Tulane/Olympia HS) scored a team-high 25 points and grabbed seven rebounds, DeBose (Washington, D.C./Rice/St. John College HS) tallied 13 points, Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) added 10 points and seven rebounds and Simmons just missed a double-double.
 
The six-point win for UNF was the smallest margin of victory in an A-Sun game this year, with the previous lowest being 12 as the Ospreys had won their first six contests by an average of 15 points. FGCU is now 34-2 dating back to the end of the 2011-12 season when holding at least a +15 edge in points in the paint as the Eagles' 32-point edge versus the Ospreys wasn't enough. The only other such loss in that stretch came in the season finale last year versus Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (+16, 38-22).
 
FGCU was playing without 6-9 forward Morant for the sixth-straight game as the Eagles' second-leading rebounder and shot blocker in terms of per-game average sat out again with a right leg injury. Additionally, freshman Rayjon Tucker (Charlotte, N.C./Northside Christian Academy) – who scored a career-high 19 points last week at Kennesaw State – played sparingly with a hip flexor suffered Wednesday against Jacksonville when he was fouled and a flagrant 1 was issued as he went up for a dunk. Morant is doubtful for Monday's game, while Tucker is expected to play more minutes.
 
A-SUN SUCCESS
Since the start of the 2012-13 season, FGCU boasts a 42-15 (.737) record in A-Sun games – five more wins than any other team in the league (North Florida, 37).
 
BY THE NUMBERS
FGCU has the following records in 2+ years under the direction of head coach Joe Dooley:
 
Leading At The Half: 45-3 (.938)
Scoring At Least 80 Points: 20-2 (.909)
Grabbing More Rebounds: 47-7 (.870)
Holding Opponent Below 40% FG: 34-4 (.895)
Scoring At Least 70 Points: 37-7 (.841)
 
ON RECORD PACE
FGCU is on pace for several D-I and all-time program records this year:
 
Points Per Game: 77.5 – Would shatter the D-I record of 72.9 set by the Sweet Sixteen team in 2012-13.
Rebounds Per Game: 41.2 – 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: 46.4 – Would be the second-best all-time, just behind the record of 46.7 percent in 2013-14.
Blocks Per Game: 4.1 – Would shatter the best mark all-time as no team has ever even averaged 4 blocks per game in a season.
Scoring Margin: +6.3 – Would be the best in D-I history, besting the previous mark of +6.1 in 2012-13.
 
BREAKOUT SEASONS
Norelia is 2nd in the A-Sun in rebounding at 8.7 per outing, 6th in field-goal percentage (.528) and 8th in scoring with 15.8 points per game. In addition to his D-I single-season record eight double-doubles, Norelia has come one rebound short of a double-double on four other occasions already this season 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, Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) has catapulted to 13.4 per game this year – an increase of 10.1 – and has led the Eagles in scoring seven times. Not only is the 6-5 Terrell getting the job done on the offensive end, he also enters Monday's contest with the 3rd-most rebounds on the team this year with 110.
 
YOUNG, TALENTED AND DEEP
FGCU has just two seniors on its roster, and so far this year 82 percent of its scoring, 87 percent of its rebounding (excluding team rebounds) and 87 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 (or tied) the team in scoring.
 
R-Jr. Norelia (11 – includes a tie): 34
R-Fr. Johnson (4 – includes two ties): 26
So. Terrell (7 – includes a tie): 25
R-Sr. DeBose (1): 20
Fr. Tucker (1): 19
R-Sr. Cvjeticanin (1): 18
Fr. Reid: 18
R-So. Simmons: 17
R-So. Kevin Mickle: 14
R-Jr. Morant: 11
 
In a further testament to the youthful and talented group, Reid leads all A-Sun freshmen in assists per game (3.7), Terrell leads all A-Sun sophomores in points per game (13.4), Simmons leads all A-Sun sophomores in rebounds per game (5.2) and Norelia is second among all A-Sun juniors in rebounds per game (8.7).
 
CHALLENGING NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
FGCU played a challenging non-conference schedule as all but one of FGCU's seven non-league losses came against top-150 RPI teams, including two losses to top-20 teams (#7 Texas A&M, 75-65; #20 Florida, 70-50) and three to top-50 teams (#46 South Dakota State, 56-52) – and two of those three losses came by 10 points or less. FGCU also dropped an 85-75 decision at #115 Ohio, a 66-63 contest to #147 Louisiana Tech and an 89-81 overtime outing against #150 South Dakota.
 
MILESTONE MARKS
FGCU won its 250th all-time game on Jan. 16 with an 85-56 decision over USC Upstate. The Eagles enter Monday's game with an all-time record (since 2002-03) of 251-183 (.578).
 
GOLDEN SUMMER
DeBose 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 returns home for a crucial matchup with league-leading UNF on Saturday at 7 p.m.
 
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 114-86 (.570), and in his 2+ years with FGCU is 57-34 (.626).
 
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.