FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU men's basketball team welcomes Liberty in the ASUN Conference opener for both programs at 7 p.m. Jan. 5 in Alico Arena. The contest is being billed as a Green Out and is being sponsored by Bank of America.

The Eagles (5-10, 0-0 ASUN) enter conference play on the heels of back-to-back losses to top SEC foes, while the Flames (11-4, 0-0 ASUN) are coming off their first victory over a Pac-12 school in program history on Dec. 29 when they knocked off UCLA.
  LAST TIME OUT
FGCU fell to Ole Miss 87-57 on Dec. 29 inside The Pavilion at Ole Miss. RaySean Scott Jr. led the Green and Blue with a season-best 18 points, while landing one rebound shy of his second career double-double. The junior forward shot 8-for-10 from the field and knocked down both of his 3-point attempts. Senior Dinero Mercurius rained three triples and finished with 12 points in 13 minutes off the bench, while junior Decardo Day helped with eight points and a game-high seven assists.

FGCU ended with a 40.4 (21-for-52) shooting percentage, 37.5 percent (6-for-16) from behind the 3-point line and 75 percent (9-for-12) from the free-throw line. Ole Miss shot 51.7 percent (31-for-60) from the field, 48 percent (12-for-25) from downtown and 72.2 percent (13-for-18) at the line.

SCOUTING THE FLAMES
Liberty is off to one of its best starts to a season, as the Flames' 11 non-conference victories are tied for most in a single season in school history. They recently earned an historic 73-58 victory at UCLA for their first win over a Pac-12 school in the history of the program. The triumph also marked the first time in school history LU defeated a Power 5 opponent in back-to-back campaigns (Wake Forest in 2017-18).

Liberty is making its debut in ASUN play as the school joined the league prior to this season. The team made the jump from the Big South Conference, where they tallied a 22-15 record last season. The Flames advanced to the semifinals of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament after falling in the finals of the Big South Championship.

LU houses both reigning ASUN players of the week in Caleb Homesley (Player) and Darius McGhee (Newcomer).

THE TREACHEROUS NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
FGCU tallied just a 5-10 record during the non-conference portion of its schedule, but part of that can be attributed to a brutal early-season slate. The Green and Blue entered ASUN action with the second-highest strength of schedule in the league, which was a mark that also ranked No. 73 in the nation. The top SOS in the league belonged to North Alabama at No. 23 in the nation. Lipscomb had the third-highest strength of schedule among ASUN schools at No. 79 nationally, while Kennesaw State (No. 85) and North Florida (No. 90) rounded out the top five.

TOUGH ROAD
FGCU played one of the toughest mid-major non-conference schedules in the country in 2018-19. Each of their first five opponents of the year (Illinois State, Southeastern, Michigan State, South Dakota State, and Toledo) either won their regular season conference championship or played in their conference championship game last season. South Dakota State played in the NCAA Tournament a year ago.
 
EAGLE LEADERS

Points Per Game		Rebounds Per Game		Assists Per Game
1. Schadrac Casimir	11.5	1. RaySean Scott Jr.	8.1	1. Decardo Day	3.6
2. RaySean Scott Jr.	9.8	2. Brady Ernst	4.5	2. Christian Carlyle	1.9
3. Dinero Mercurius	8.9	3. Brian Thomas	4.2	3. Schadrac Casimir	1.7
FG %		3pt %		FT %
1. Brady Ernst	.633	1. Zach Scott	.477	1. Schadrac Casimir	.892
2. Brian Thomas	.615	2. Schadrac Casimir	.456	2. Dinero Mercurius	.750
3. Ricky Doyle	.500	3. Dinero Mercurius	.333	3. Decardo Day	.667

 
JOURNEY TO 1,000
One current Eagle has already reached the 1,000 point mark as senior transfer Casimir has 1,284 career points. He scored 1,112 of those points in NCAA Tournament campaigns at Iona prior to transferring to FGCU.
 
Mercurius continues to inch closer to the 1,000-point plateau. He sits just one point shy of the mark, as he has scored 999 combined points between stops at USF, Daytona State and now at FGCU.
 
Haanif Cheatham will land just shy of the plateau. He suffered a season-ending injury and will end his career with 876 points.

THE NEW RPI
The NCAA has developed a new ranking system to replace the RPI as the primary sorting tool for evaluating teams during the Division I men's basketball season. The new ranking system was approved in late July after months of consultation with the Division I Men's Basketball Committee, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, top basketball analytics experts and Google Cloud Professional Services. The NCAA Evaluation Tool, which is known as the NET, relies on game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses.

The NET was built to create a ranking system that was as accurate as possible while also evaluating team performance fairly. To ensure fairness, certain types of data were omitted from the model. Of key importance, game date and order were omitted to give equal importance to both early and late-season games. In addition, a cap of 10 points was applied to the winning margin to prevent rankings from encouraging unsportsmanlike play, such as needlessly running up the score in a game where the outcome was certain.

The top end of the ASUN sees Lipscomb (No. 43) and Liberty (No. 44) currently ranked inside the top 50 in the nation in NET. The Eagles are currently ranked fifth in the league and No. 232 in the country.

NATIONAL RANKINGS
FGCU boasts the following top-100 national rankings both as a team and individually:
 
Team:
100th – Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage (.362)
76th – Total Steals (104)
 
Individual:
90th – Mercurius, Total Steals (24)

MILESTONE WATCH
As a program, the Eagles are currently 199-178 as a Division I member. With one more victory, they will join the 200-win club. 

FLORIDA'S FINEST
With 23 wins and a trip to the NIT last season, the Eagles are the only Division I men's team in the state of Florida to have 20 wins and reach the postseason in the past six seasons.
 
The Eagles rank third in wins in the Sunshine State over the last seven years (since 2012-13, as of Jan. 4).
Florida- 158
Miami- 149
FGCU- 145
Florida State- 137
UCF- 111
North Florida- 109
FIU- 93
Jacksonville- 91
Bethune-Cookman- 79
FAU- 72
USF- 69
Florida A&M- 51
 
THE GROWTH OF FGCU
After starting their D-I transition with five-straight losing seasons, the Eagles have now posted six-consecutive 20-win seasons. After not finishing higher than sixth place in the ASUN the first five years, FGCU has finished no worse than a tie for second each of the past six 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: 23-12, 12-2 (ASUN (1st)
2018-19: 5-10, 0-0 (ASUN)
D-I Total: 199-178, 103-83 ASUN
Last 6+ Years (since 2012-13): 145-79, 70-22 ASUN
 
THE STRENGTH OF ALICO
FGCU boasts a 92-22 record (.807) at Alico Arena since the 2012-13 season. In ASUN games during that same stretch, the Eagles have been even more dominant, posting a 41-6 (.872) mark against league foes in the regular season since 2012-13.

SERIES HISTORY
This will mark the first meeting between the programs.
 
EAGLES PICKED 2ND, CHEATHAM HONORED IN PRESEASON RELEASE

2018-19 ASUN Men's Basketball Preseason Honors and Awards
Preseason Player of the Year: Garrison Mathews, Lipscomb
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Noah Horchler, North Florida

Preseason All-Conference Team

Pos	Name	School	Cl	Hometown	Major
*G	Garrison Mathews	Lipscomb	Sr.	Franklin, Tenn.	Criminal Justice
*F/C	Abdul Lewis	NJIT	Sr.	Newark, NJ	Science & Technology
G	Haanif Cheatham	FGCU	Sr.	Fort Lauderdale, Fla.	Communications
F	Jace Hogan	Jacksonville	Sr.	Melbourne, Fla.
G	JD Notae	Jacksonville	So.	Covington, Ga.	Business Management
F	Scottie James	Liberty	Jr.	Tarpon Springs, Fla.	Mechanical Engineering
F	Rob Marberry	Lipscomb	Sr.	Nashville, Tenn.	Corporate Management
G	Ivan Gandia-Rosa	North Florida	Jr.	Caguas, Puerto Rico	Sport Management
F	Noah Horchler	North Florida	Jr.	Melbourne, Fla.	Criminal Justice
F	Abayomi Iyiola	Stetson	So.	Atlanta, Ga.	Accounting

* - Denotes unanimous selection to preseason team

Preseason Coaches' Poll

Pl	Team	Points (1st Place Votes)
1.	Lipscomb	79 (7)
2.	FGCU	66 (1)
3.	Liberty	63
4.	North Florida	61 (1)
5.	Jacksonville	40
6.	NJIT	38
7.	Kennesaw St.	26
8.	Stetson	20
9.	North Alabama	12

Preseason Media Poll

Pl	Team	Points (1st Place Votes)
1.	Lipscomb	438 (44)
2.	FGCU	374 (2)
3.	Liberty	338
4.	North Florida	304 (2)
5.	Jacksonville	254 (2)
6.	NJIT	203
7.	Kennesaw St.	147
8.	Stetson	121
9.	North Alabama	71

 
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.
 
SEASON TICKETS AVAILABLE
Fans can purchase or learn more about season tickets by contacting an Alico Arena Ticket Office representative over the phone at 239-590-7145 or by visiting the office Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Additional information is available on FGCUTickets.com.
 
As an added incentive, new or returning season-ticket holders who purchase seats will be entered into a contest for an FGCU jersey autographed by either the women's or men's team.
 
Season ticket seat locations are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Like in the past, Eagles Club membership may be required for certain seats, with giving levels utilized for access to better locations.
 
WE'VE GOT YOUR SEAT
Experience FGCU Basketball this season. The following ticket opportunities are on sale now:
Group Sales
Bring your group of 20 or more to an FGCU Men's or Women's Basketball game. All group tickets include an FGCU hat ($15 value), a $5 game day discount at The Boardwalk restaurant, in game group recognition and more. For more information on group outings, click HERE or call 239-590-7145.
Single Game Tickets
Single game tickets are available for all remaining home games. Discounts are available for current or former Military and Youth ages 3-15. Purchase online HERE or call 239-590-7145.
Military Appreciation Games
Military Appreciation Night is Saturday, January 5. Discounted tickets are available for current or former Military and their families. Women's tickets start at $8 each and Men's tickets start at $9 each and the first 50 military discount orders include a free $10 gift card for Mission BBQ. Purchase online HERE or call 239-590-7145.
 
COACH FLY
Michael Fly was introduced as the fourth FGCU men's basketball head coach on April 5, 2018. He had spent the previous seven years as an assistant coach on the Eagles' staff. In that time, he helped FGCU to a 156-86 record (.643 winning percentage), including six ASUN Tournament Final appearances, three NCAA Tournament victories, three ASUN Tournament titles and three ASUN Regular Season Championships, two berths in the NIT, a CIT appearance and a run to the Sweet Sixteen. He has coached a dozen all-conference selections while with the Green and Blue, including two ASUN Player of the Year honors in Sherwood Brown and Brandon Goodwin, and two ASUN Defensive Player of the Year selections in Bernard Thompson and Demetris Morant. Of the top-10 players in career points at FGCU, Fly has helped develop eight of them, including all-time leading scorer Thompson (1,835). Additionally, the Kentucky alumnus has coached both the ASUN all-time assists leader Brett Comer (845; 24th in NCAA history) and FGCU all-time leading rebounder Chase Fieler (714).
 
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.

ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 73 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 11+ seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just seven+ seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 34 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including both men's and women's soccer again in 2018. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best 6th-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the Spring, 2018 and had an ASUN Conference and State of Florida best five teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport.  The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours – being recognized as one of two runner-ups for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.