BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – Looking to tie the nation's longest road winning streak, the FGCU men's basketball team travels to face Bowling Green on Saturday, Nov. 18, at 6 p.m.
 
OPENING TIP ITEMS
^ FGCU has won 10-straight road games dating back to last year – the 2nd-longest road winning streak in the country. Last year's national runner-up Gonzaga has the longest current streak at 11 in a row. The next longest road winning streak is six straight by four different teams.
^ The Eagles are the defending ASUN regular-season and two-time tournament champions. FGCU is installed as the preseason ASUN favorites, predicted to return to the NCAA Tournament for a third-straight year.
^ Last season, FGCU claimed its first outright ASUN regular-season title (12-2) and second overall. The Eagles set a program Division-I regular-season record with 23 wins and tied the all-time victory mark of 26, finishing one triumph shy of matching the program's all-time mark. Additionally, the Green and Blue recorded the first single-digit loss season in the D-I era (since 2007-08). FGCU set D-I program single-season records in points per game (79.4), rebound margin (+5.4) and field goal percentage (.499) – 5th-best in the nation.
^ The Eagles made their third NCAA Tournament appearance in five years (six seasons of eligibility) and earned a program-best No. 14 seed. Despite losing its leading rebounder and shot blocker in Demetris Morant early in the 2nd half with an ankle injury, FGCU went on to fall to 3rd-seeded Florida State – the second-tallest team in the nation – by just six points, 86-80.
 
TWEETABLES
1) FGCU is ranked #12 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, while Bowling Green is receiving votes. It will mark FGCU's third-consecutive opponent receiving votes in the poll to start the season.
2) This is just the second time in program history that FGCU has opened a season with consecutive 85+ point games (2003-04), and first time in the D-I era (since 2007-08).
3) The 33-point road win at Siena (86-53) on Monday was tied for the largest victory away from home in D-I history, and was tied for Siena's largest home defeat in its D-I history (since 1976-77).
4) This is just the fourth time in program history that FGCU has started a season 2-0, and only the second time it has occurred in the D-I era. Only one other time (2003-04) have the Eagles opened a year with two wins by double-figure points.
5) FGCU has a +48 edge in points in the paint and a +39 rebounding advantage through the first two games of the year.
 
ODDS & ENDS
The win over Siena marked head coach Joe Dooley's 150th career victory … Monday's game represented the 38th time since Dooley took over in 2013-14 that FGCU has held a team to 60 points or fewer … under Dooley, the Eagles are 70-4 when leading at the half and 41-4 when scoring at least 80 points.
 
BIO BLASTS
0 Brandon Goodwin: Named to the Lou Henson Award Watch List as the nation's best mid-major player.
11 Christian Terrell: Went a perfect 7-7 from the floor at Siena.
13 RaySean Scott Jr.: Has missed the first two games of the year with a muscle strain in his knee.
15 Ricky Doyle: Just missed his first career double-double with nine points and a career- and game-high 11 rebounds versus Siena.
31 Dinero Mercurius: Has made three 3-pointers in each of the first two games off the bench to start his career in the Green and Blue as a redshirt junior.
 
#DEPTHCITY
In each of the previous two years, FGCU has had 10 different players during the season score double-figure points in a game. Already this year, the Eagles have had five different players reach double-figure points through just two contests (Doyle with a nine-point game). Below is a list of players who have scored 10 or more points in a game this season, how many times they have led (or tied) the team in scoring and their season high.
 
Zach Johnson: 27 (1)
Brandon Goodwin: 21 (1 – tie)
Christian Terrell: 16 (1 – tie)
Dinero Mercurius: 14
Christian Carlyle: 11
 
SCOUTING BOWLING GREEN
^ Bowling Green opened its season with a 78-69 win at Drexel before falling at home on Monday night to South Dakota, 88-79.
^ The Falcons have received big efforts from freshmen in the first two games. Against Drexel, Justin Turner scored 33 points and added seven assists and four rebounds. Versus South Dakota, Derek Koch registered a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds.
^ This will be the second all-time meeting between FGCU and BGSU. In the first meeting, the Falcons beat the Eagles, 82-77, at Alico Arena on Nov. 23, 2015. The game was the third in as many days for both teams.
^ BGSU features one of the youngest rosters in the country in 2017-18. The Falcons only have one senior, but have nine freshmen or sophomores – just one of 14 teams in the nation who fit that criteria. Only Kentucky (8) and American (7) have more freshmen than BGSU (6).
^ Head coach Michael Huger is in his 3rd season at the helm of Bowling Green. Huger was a member of the Miami coaching staff in November of 2012 when FGCU defeated the eventual ACC Champion Hurricanes, 63-51, who closed the season ranked #10 in the nation.
 
LAST TIME THEY MET | Complete Recap
Then-redshirt freshman Johnson (Miami, Fla./Norland HS) scored 26 points and then-sophomore Terrell (Jacksonville, Fla./Providence HS) added 21, but FGCU dug itself too big of a deficit against Bowling Green, 82-77, in the final game of the Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Classic at Alico Arena on Nov. 23, 2015.
 
Johnson tallied 22 of his then-career-high point total in the 2nd half, while Terrell netted 17 in the 2nd half as he finished one point shy of matching his then-career best. Both of those underclassmen came off the bench as the Eagles received 58 points from its bench compared with 23 from two Bowling Green players.
 
BGSU had leads as large as 16 in the 2nd half, but FGCU was able to trim the deficit to four on multiple occasions. However, it couldn't string enough stops together defensively to complete the comeback. The Falcons had an answer nearly every time for the Eagles, and most of them came in the paint as BGSU uncharacteristically out-scored FGCU in that area, 44-39.
 
ROAD WARRIORS
Overall, FGCU was a program-best 10-3 away from Alico Arena last season, with all three losses coming by single digits.
 
The Eagles finished a program-best 7-0 on the road in the ASUN last year, surpassing the previous single-season record for wins of five. FGCU is the first ASUN institution to go undefeated on the road in conference action since former league member Samford went 8-0 in 1998-99.
 
HEAD COACH JOE DOOLEY
Dooley is in his 5th season as the head coach of FGCU. He has guided the Eagles to at least 20 wins and postseason appearances in each of his first four campaigns with the team. Last season, he became the first coach in program history to be named ASUN Coach of the Year, and was also tabbed as the NABC District 3 Coach of the Year. Under his guidance, FGCU was statistically the 4th-best team in the country in scoring on possessions immediately following timeouts last season, averaging 1.059 points per possession.
 
MILESTONE TRACKER
FGCU is well within reach of several milestone victory marks this season.
 
All-Time Record: 287-195 (13 More Wins For 300)
All-Time Record In D-I Era: 173-156 (27 More Wins For 200)
All-Time Record At Home: 192-60 (8 More Wins For 200)
All-Time Record vs. ASUN Opponents: 91-81 (9 More Wins For 100)
 
SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
FGCU will play an incredible six non-conference games against teams that finished in the top 40 of the RPI last year. Each of those teams won at least 25 games and played in the postseason:
 
Nov. 11: vs. 39 Illinois State (28-7, NIT) | W, 98-87
Nov. 21: @ 34 Middle Tennessee (31-5, NCAA)
Dec. 2: vs. 34 Middle Tennessee
Dec. 9: @ 40 UT Arlington (27-9, NIT)
Dec. 22: @ 29 Wichita State (31-5, NCAA)
Dec. 27: @ 31 Rhode Island (25-10, NCAA)
 
Each of those NCAA Tournament opponents won a March Madness game last year, and the other two claimed three total victories in the NIT. Those opponents went a combined 142-36 (.798 winning percentage) last season and posted an average RPI of 34.
 
RANKINGS RUNDOWN
FGCU is ranked #12 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 Poll. They are joined in the poll by UT Arlington at #9, while Illinois State, Bowling Green, Navy and Lipscomb (all 2017-18 opponents) are receiving votes. Siena was receiving votes in the initial poll when the Eagles and Saints met this past Monday.
 
In the Associated Press and/or USA Today Coaches Poll, Wichita State is ranked #6 in the country, while Middle Tennessee and Rhode Island all 2017-18 FGCU opponents) are both receiving votes.
 
Additionally, last Wednesday, ESPN's Joe Lunardi released his preseason Bracketology, which has FGCU predicted as a 14 seed in this year's NCAA Tournament. Along with the Eagles, Lunardi also has Wichita State (2 seed), Rhode Island (9), Middle Tennessee (12) and UT Arlington (13) all included in his initial Bracketology.
 
MEN'S & WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SUCCESS
FGCU is one of only seven schools in the country which have had its men's and women's teams win at least 20 games in five-straight seasons, joining: Duke, Louisville, Kentucky, Baylor, BYU and Saint Mary's.
 
Additionally, with both the men's and women's teams winning at least 26 games last season, FGCU is one of only three non-Power 5 schools in the nation to boast that claim along with Gonzaga and Bucknell. In total, only nine schools had both its men's and women's basketball teams record at least 26 victories a year ago: Duke, Notre Dame, Michigan, South Carolina, Baylor and Florida State.
 
BUILDING A TRADITION
FGCU is believed to be the only men's D-I program in NCAA history to make five postseason appearances in its first six years of eligibility (2013: NCAA; 2014: NIT; 2015: CIT; 2016: NCAA; 2017: NCAA).
 
The Eagles are also one of just 23 teams in the nation to have won at least 20 games and made postseason appearances in each of the past five seasons. Of those 23 teams, only six are mid-major schools, as FGCU joins Vermont, Belmont, New Mexico State, Iona and UC Irvine to hold that distinction.
 
62 INCHES
At just 5-foot-2-inches, freshman Darnell Rogers (Baltimore, Md./Believe Prep/ Shiloh HS/Indian Land HS) is by far the smallest Division-I player in the nation. The next smallest player is Mount St. Mary's Junior Robinson at 5-5.
 
Rogers is believed to be the smallest scholarship D-I men's basketball player in history. While not confirmed due to many teams not being able to verify early-year rosters, only one player has been confirmed as smaller than 5-2, and that was Dayton's Keith Braswell at exactly 5 foot. However, Braswell was a walk-on during his one season with the Flyers in 1994-95.
 
More recently, Malcolm Reid – a 5-2 walk-on at Southeastern Louisiana in 2015-16 – matched Rogers' height, but he once again was also a walk-on. Darnell's father, Shawnta, stood at 5-4 and put together a heralded career at George Washington, ultimately culminating in him winning Atlantic 10 Conference Player of the Year in 1999.
 
MOST WINS IN FLORIDA
Since the start of the 2013-14 season, FGCU has the 2nd-most wins among D-I schools in the state of Florida (entering games on Nov. 17)
 
1) Florida: 102
2) FGCU: 93
    Miami: 93
4) Florida State: 86
5) North Florida: 77
6) UCF: 63
7) Jacksonville: 55
8) FIU: 52
9) Bethune-Cookman: 44
10) Stetson: 43
11) USF: 39
12) FAU: 38
13) Florida A&M: 30
 
FGCU is the only D-I team in the state of Florida which has posted four-straight 20-win seasons (five-consecutive for the Eagles). As FGCU has moved among some of the preeminent teams in the state, it has done so with Florida talent. Last year, Florida natives were responsible for 80 percent of FGCU's points and 75 percent of the Green and Blue's rebounds and assists.
 
This season, eight of FGCU's 13 scholarship players hail from the Sunshine State, and including walk-ons there are 11 total players from Florida on the 2017-18 roster.
 
LOW-POST FORCE
FGCU led the country in points in the paint per game last year at 41.3. Included in that average were a pair of D-I program record performances of 68 points in the paint versus Ave Maria and Florida National.
 
2016-17 Points In The Paint Leaders
1) FGCU: 41.3
2) Utah: 41.1
3) North Carolina: 39.9
4) VCU: 38.2
5) Kentucky: 37.3
 
#DUNKCITY
Helping fuel that low-post production was FGCU finishing 3rd in the nation with 159 dunks – 11 more than the original Dunk City Sweet Sixteen team in 2012-13.
 
2016-17 Team Dunk Leaders
1) Florida State: 183
2) Kentucky: 179
3) FGCU: 159
4) USC: 154
 
2016-17 Individual Dunk Leaders
1) Tacko Fall (UCF): 106
2) Bam Adebayo (Kentucky): 101
3) Demetris Morant (FGCU): 97
 
BY THE NUMBERS
16: FGCU erased a 16-point 1st-half deficit in its home opener last year against UT Arlington en route to an 85-72 win. It marked the largest comeback in the program's D-I history; one point shy of tying the all-time mark of 17 set in 2005-06.
39: Under Dooley, the Eagles are 40-4 (14-2 last year) when scoring at least 80 points.
66: The Eagles set a D-I program record by scoring 66 points off the bench last year against Ave Maria.
68: FGCU is 69-4 (18-0 last year) under Dooley when leading at the half.
98: FGCU's 98 points against Illinois State were the most in a season opener in program history. The previous high was 90 in the program's first-ever game in 2002-03 versus Puerto Rico-Bayamon.
 
LOCKING IN ON D
Since Dooley took over FGCU in 2013-14, FGCU has held 38 teams to 60 points or fewer. The Sweet Sixteen team in 2012-13 held 13 opponents to 60 points or fewer, but prior to that – in five seasons of D-I history – FGCU teams had only held opponents to 60 points or fewer 20 times.
 
The Eagles have led the ASUN in scoring defense in three of Dooley's four years with FGCU and finished 2nd in the other season. Last year, the Eagles paced the conference by holding opponents to just 69.3 points per game – exactly six points better than any other team.
 
FAMOUS LINEAGE
FGCU has a pair of players related to Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers in Michael Gilmore (Jacksonville, Fla./Miami/VCU/Rickards HS) and walk-on Ryan McAdoo (Boca Raton, Fla./St. Andrews HS). Gilmore is the nephew of Artis Gilmore, a six-time NBA All-Star, while McAdoo is the son of Bob McAdoo, a five-time NBA All-Star and NBA MVP in 1975.
 
2016-17 RE-TWEETS
1) The Eagles won 11 non-conference a season ago – the most in program history.
2) FGCU had two separate 4+ game winning streaks in D-I non-conference history for the first time.
3) FGCU won three games by one point for the first time in a single season, and it had a record four games decided by a single point.
4) Incredibly, all 15 of FGCU's players had a positive plus/minus ratio, and every scholarship player was at least +40 on the year.
5) FGCU recorded three 100+ point games last season, marking the first time in single-season D-I history that occurred.
 
THE GROWTH OF FGCU
After starting their D-I transition with five-straight losing seasons, the Eagles have now posted five-consecutive 20-win seasons. After not finishing higher than 6th place in the ASUN the first five years, FGCU has finished no worse than a tie for 2nd each of the past four seasons.
 
2007-08: 10-21, 6-10 ASUN (T-8th)
2008-09: 11-20, 7-13 ASUN (9th)
2009-10: 8-21, 5-15 ASUN (T-10th)
2010-11: 10-20, 7-13 ASUN (7th)
2011-12: 15-17, 8-10 ASUN (T-6th)
2012-13: 26-11, 13-5 ASUN (2nd)
2013-14: 22-13, 14-4 ASUN (T-1st)
2014-15: 22-11, 11-3 ASUN (2nd)
2015-16: 21-14, 8-6 ASUN (T-2nd)
2016-17: 26-8, 12-2 ASUN (1st)
2017-18: 2-0, 0-0 ASUN
D-I Total: 173-156, 91-81 ASUN
Last 5 Years: 119-57, 58-20 ASUN
 
GOODWIN'S RECORD-SETTING 2016-17
Goodwin (Norcross, Ga./UCF/Norcross HS) was the unanimous ASUN Newcomer of the Year, in addition to being named ASUN First Team, ASUN Tournament MVP and setting a league record by securing six ASUN Newcomer of the Week honors. He was also named to the NABC All-District First Team after setting a program record by scoring 629 points. He hit three game-winning shots and led FGCU in scoring (18.5) and assists (4.1).
 
HOME RECORD INFO
FGCU is 76-14 (.844) at Alico Arena since the start of the 2012-13 season, including a 16-3 mark last year. Additionally, in ASUN games FGCU has been even more dominant, posting a 34-5 (.872) mark against league foes in the regular season since 2012-13.
 
NEXT UP
FGCU remains on the road and heads to Middle Tennessee for a mid-major clash with the Blue Raiders on Tuesday, Nov. 21, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. Middle Tennessee is 2-1 on the year, and won a game in the NCAA Tournament last year.
 
IRMA RELIEF DONATIONS
In the wake of Hurricane Irma, many individuals and families throughout Southwest Florida are still in desperate need of assistance. To aid in those relief efforts, FGCU Athletics will be collecting donations at all Eagle home games for the immediate future. Donation items most needed include: non-perishable food, clothing, household items and first-aid supplies. Additionally, those unable to attend upcoming home games can drop off donations in canisters located in the Alico Arena lobby. All donations will be given to those hardest hit in Lee and Collier counties.
 
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 5th season with the Eagles in 2017-18 and has coached eight all-conference selections in that time. He has led FGCU to 20+ win seasons and postseason appearances in all four years: 2014 NIT; 2015 CIT; 2016 NCAA; 2017 NCAA. Dooley was named the 2017 ASUN Coach of the Year and the 2017 NABC District 3 Coach of the Year after leading the Eagles to a D-I program record 26 wins. In 8+ seasons overall as a head coach, Dooley has a record of 150-98 (.605), and in his 4+ years with FGCU is 93-46 (.669). 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 FourPrios, 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.