FGCU Men's Basketball Game Notes & Information
Game 29	FGCU (18-10, 8-6 ASUN) vs. Liberty (20-9, 11-3 ASUN)
Date // Time	Wednesday, Feb. 23 // 7:00 p.m.
Location	Lynchburg, Va. // Liberty Arena
Live Statistics	Statbroadcast Live Stats
Watch Online	ESPN+
ASUN Notes	ASUN Standings // ASUN Scoreboard // ASUN Stats
Tickets	Next Home Game: Feb. 26 vs. Jacksonville - Order Online // 866-FGCU-TIX
Twitter	@FGCU_MBB // @FGCUEagles
Instagram	FGCU Men's Basketball
Facebook	FGCU Men's Basketball

• It's the final regular-season week of the season as the FGCU men's basketball team heads to East Division leader Liberty on Wednesday night. The game is set for a 7 PM tip and will be streamed live on ESPN+. Following the game, the Eagles will close out the regular-season on Saturday against Jacksonville in a double-header with the No. 23 women's team.
• The Eagles currently sit third in the East Division standings, while Liberty is first. The East Division remains a tight race with Jacksonville in second place (10-4) with the Eagles just behind at 8-6. Should the Green and Blue remain in third, they would host an ASUN Tournament First Round match-up against the West Division sixth-seed which is currently North Alabama.
  • Through 28 games this year, FGCU is averaging 77.5 points while giving up 73.1 per game. The Eagles have solid shooting numbers at 44.8 percent from the floor and 35.2 percent from deep. FGCU ranks second in the league in scoring, fifth in scoring margin (+4.4), and third in three pointers made (10.4/game), while leading the league in assists (461, 16.5/game), rebounds (1095, 39.1/game) and blocked shots (140, 5.0/game).
• The Green and Blue is led by Tavian Dunn-Martin and Kevin Samuel who are averaging 20.0 and 11.8 points per game, respectively. Samuel is averaging nearly a double-double with a team-best 9.9 rebounds, while adding 85 blocks. He has already set the single-season record for blocked shots surpassing Kyle Marks (2008-09) who previously held it with 51.
• Cyrus Largie is the third leading scorer on the team at 10.8 points while adding 4.9 rebounds.
• Along with his scoring, Dunn-Martin also leads the Eagles and the ASUN in assists with 6.3 per game which ranks 6th nationally. Dunn-Martin and Caleb Catto are the top three-point shooter (players with more than 75 attempts) at .365 and .363, respectively. Samuel is the overall field goal percentage leader at 63.9 percent from the floor which ranks fifth nationally. His 3.15 blocks per game also ranks 7th nationally while his 13 double-doubles this season are also 15th in the NCAA.
• Liberty has won two straight after dropping games to Jacksonville and North Florida. The only other league loss for the Flames this year was during cross-over play against West Division leader Jacksonville State.
• The game will feature a match-up of the ASUN's top leading scorers between FGCU's Dunn-Martin and Liberty's Darius McGhee who leads the league at 23.8 points per game. Keegan McDowell and Shiloh Robinson are both averaging 10.3 points, while Kyle Rode is just behind at 8.7 points.
  • This will be just the sixth all-time meeting between the two teams since Liberty joined the league prior to the 2018-19 season. The Flames hold a 5-0 record over the Eagles. The two teams did not play each other last season. In the ASUN opener this year, Darius McGhee set an ASUN record with 48 points giving Liberty a 78-75 win over FGCU in Alico Arena.
  • Tavian Dunn-Martin scored a program record 38 points, including 20 in the final 7:33 of the game, to lead FGCU over Stetson, 89-82 in overtime, last Saturday for the Eagles' fourth consecutive win.
• Dunn-Martin's performance eclipsed four previous players who were tied for the program record with 37 points. Zach Johnson most recently had the high with 37 against Lipscomb (3/4/18), while Ryan Hopkins did it twice – against Florida College (1/14/03) and Plymouth State (12/31/02). Leighton Bowie also had 37 against Illinois Wesleyan on Dec. 20, 2003. For Dunn-Martin, he finished the night hitting 13-of-25 from the floor with five three pointers and was 7-of-8 at the free throw line. He added seven assists and six rebounds in 40 minutes of play.
• The performance also marked the sixth 30-point game of the year for Dunn-Martin which made him the only ASUN player in the last decade to do so in a single season. Garrison Mathews of Lipscomb had five such games during the 2018-19 season as the last ASUN player to have five-or-more for a year.
• In addition to Dunn-Martin's play, Kevin Samuel had his 12th double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds while posting seven blocked shots which tied his previous career high set against Oklahoma State (12/16/20). The seven blocks were tied as the third-most in program history and just one shy of the single-game FGCU record (last set by Brian Thomas, 3/3/20 vs. Lipscomb).
  • In addition to Tavian Dunn-Martin (1,424 pts) reaching 1,000 points earlier this year, Matt Halvorsen crossed the milestone during his career at Western Carolina and now has 1,439 through five seasons.
• Kevin Samuel reached the mark at Kennesaw State and now has 1,141 in 122 career games.
• Caleb Catto is most recent Eagle to hit the milestone with 1,011 points in 110 games – hit went over the mark after scoring 11 points in the win at home against Kennesaw State.
 
 Leaders Among the ASUN
• Tavian Dunn-Martin is currently second in the ASUN in scoring, averaging 20.0 points per game just behind Liberty's Darius McGhee (23.8). He leads the league in assists (6.3/game, 169), is third in three pointers (3.11/game, 84), and second in total field goals (166). He is one of just four ASUN players with multiple 30-point games this season and the only player with six.
• Kevin Samuel leads the ASUN in blocked shots (3.15), rebounding (9.9), field goal percentage (63.9), and double-doubles (13).
• Cyrus Largie is third in the league in total steals (43) and sixth in steals per game (1.54).
  • The Eagles have set or are on the verge of setting several single-season program records:

- No. 1	Made 3pt FG	290
- No. 1	Attempted 3 pt FG	825
- No. 1	Blocks Per Game	5.0
- No. 2	Total Blocks	140
- No. 3	Assists Per Game	16.5
- No. 5	Points Per Game	77.5
- No. 7	Rebounds Per Game	39.1
- No. 9	Assists	461

 

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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 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 his time with the Eagles, he has helped FGCU to a 206-142 record (.585 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 16. He has coached 13 all-conference selections while with the Green and Blue, including two ASUN Player of the Year honors in Sherwood Brown and Brandon Goodwin, two ASUN Defensive Player of the Year selections in Bernard Thompson and Demetris Morant and one ASUN Newcomer of the Year in Schadrac Casimir. 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).
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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 87 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 25, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and 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 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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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