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FORT MYERS, Fla. – Two teams with early-season win streaks tangle Wednesday, Dec. 7, as the FGCU men's basketball team (7-2) and FAU (7-1) meet at FAU Arena at 7 p.m. The Eagles bring a five-game win streak to Boca Raton while FAU is riding a six-game win streak and is undefeated at home. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
FGCU is up to No. 72 in the latest NCAA Men's Basketball NET rankings, the best NET ranking in the ASUN Conference, and is No. 140 in the latest KenPom.com ratings. The Eagles also received 27 points in the latest College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
FAU is shooting 50.2 percent from the field in home games and owns an average margin of victory of 23 points over its opponents in FAU Arena in those four games. The Panthers, who compete in C-USA, hammered host Eastern Michigan 101-73 on Sunday and made headlines with a 76-74 win over Florida at the O'Dome last month.
Sophomore guard Alijah Martin leads a balanced FAU attack with 12.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game with three Owls in double figures as senior guard Michael Forrest delivers 12.3 points per game and sophomore center Vladislav Goldin adds 11.6. Right behind the top three scorers are sophomore guard Johnell Davis (9.2) and redshirt freshman guard Nick Boyd (8.9).
The Owls are also flying around the glass, ranked 28th nationally with 40.62 rebounds per game, and 14th with nearly 30 on the defensive side.
FGCU and FAU are tied 3-3 in the career series and the Green & Blue are 1-2 at FAU Arena, winning 75-62 on Dec. 28, 2016, and falling short in 2018 and 2007. The Eagles won the last meeting – a 72-70 overtime thriller at Alico Arena on Nov. 20, 2019. FGCU trailed by as many as 19 points in the game and 12 at the 10-minute mark before guard Jalen Warren scored four straight points to tie the game and send it to overtime. Warren finished with 21 total points, 11 in the second half and six in overtime.
The Eagles won their fifth straight game, along with their eighth consecutive contest at Alico Arena, by outlasting FIU 74-65 Sunday. Junior forward
Zach Anderson (
Apopka, Fla./Apopka HS) led the Green & Blue with a double-double of 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Anderson was honored by the ASUN on Monday as the conference's Player of the Week. In addition to his second double-double of the season against FIU, Anderson scored 11 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in last Wednesday's road victory at Georgia Southern.
Averaging 13.1 points per game, Anderson is close behind the team-best 13.4 points per game that senior guard
Isaiah Thompson (
Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville HS/Purdue) provides. Anderson leads FGCU with 7.9 rebounds per outing – which ranks third in the ASUN.
For complete coverage of FGCU men's basketball, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_MBB and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU men's basketball and other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
INDIVIDUAL TICKETS, MINI PLANS AVAILABLE
Tickets for the 2022-23 FGCU Basketball season are on sale now and can be purchased by going online to www.FGCUTickets.com or calling 866-FGCU-TIX. Group tickets can also be purchased for 10 or more people – making a memorable evening for families, businesses, or other organizations.
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
COACH CHAMBERS
Pat Chambers was officially introduced as the fifth FGCU men's basketball head coach in March 2022 bringing a wealth of experience in college basketball highlighted by head coaching stints at Penn State and Boston University. Chambers spent nine years leading the Penn State (2011-20) program and two years as head coach at Boston University (2009-11). He has 197 career victories in that span including four 20-plus win seasons. Part of his career as a head coach was highlighted by leading the Nittany Lions to a No. 9 national ranking in 2019-20 which tied the program's best-ever ranking set in 1996. Prior to becoming a head coach, he spent five seasons as part of the Villanova staff helping the Wildcats to a Final Four (2009), two Elite Eight, and three Sweet Sixteen appearances during his tenure.
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/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 https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 93 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 46 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 26 consecutive semesters. The past six semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative team GPA. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
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