FOR OPENERS
• After Tuesday night's ASUN Championship First Round win over North Alabama, the FGCU men's basketball team will next head to Bellarmine on Thursday night for a quarterfinal match-up. The Eagles entered the tournament as the third seed in the East Division, while the Knights were the second seed in the West Division.
• The winner will move on to the ASUN Semifinals to play the winner of the Lipscomb/Liberty quarterfinal on Saturday, March 5. The Tournament field will be re-seeded at that point with the higher remaining seeds hosting semifinal games.
• The Eagles had a big finish to the regular season with a road win, and the program's first win overall, at Liberty last Wednesday night before returning home to defeat Jacksonville on Saturday. The two wins produced FGCU's first 20-win season since the 2017-18 campaign giving the Green & Blue momentum heading into the postseason.
Tonight's Match-Up
• Through 31 games this year, FGCU is averaging 77.7 points while giving up 72.9 per game. The Eagles have solid shooting numbers at 45.1 percent from the floor and 34.9 percent from deep. FGCU ranks second in the league in scoring, fourth in scoring margin (+4.8), and third in three pointers made (10.1/game), while leading the league in assists (497, 16.0/game), rebounds (1210, 39.0/game) and blocked shots (157, 5.1/game).
• The Green and Blue is led by
Tavian Dunn-Martin and
Kevin Samuel who are averaging 20.9 and 11.8 points per game, respectively. Samuel is averaging nearly a double-double with a team-best 9.8 rebounds, while adding 92 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 10.7 points while adding 4.8 rebounds.
• Along with his scoring, Dunn-Martin also leads the Eagles and the ASUN in assists with 6.1 per game which ranks 6th nationally.
Caleb Catto,
Austin Richie, and Dunn-Martin are the top three-point shooters at .368, .365, and .361, respectively. Samuel is the overall field goal percentage leader at 64.9 percent from the floor which ranks 3rd nationally. His 3.07 blocks per game also ranks 7th nationally while his 14 double-doubles this season are also 15th in the NCAA. He is also one of just three active players nationally to have 1,000 career points and rebounds. With 298 career blocks, he could become the only player this season to add 300 swats as well.
• Bellarmine enters the postseason after receiving a bye from the first round of play, but did lose 2-of-3 to end the year after dropping games to Jacksonville State and Eastern Kentucky. The Knights won the earlier meeting against the Eagles during the cross-over portion of the league schedule, 74-63, at Alico Arena.
• The Knights are led by 16.3 points from Dylan Penn and 15.2 points from C.J. Flemming. Both Flemming and Penn were named to the All-ASUN Second Team, while Curt Hopf was named to the ASUN All-Freshman Team.
Eagles Vs. Knights
• FGCU is 0-3 all-time against Bellarmine since the Knights joined the league prior to the 2020-21 campaign. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools in the postseason.
FGCU In The ASUN Tournament
• FGCU owns a 18-7 record all-time in the ASUN Championship tournament. The Eagles have won all but twice in the quarterfinals (8-2) and have reached the title game in six of the last 10 years.
| 2012 |
2-1 |
Runner-up (6 seed) |
| 2013 |
3-0 |
Champions (2 seed) |
| 2014 |
2-1 |
Runner-up (1 seed) |
| 2015 |
1-1 |
Semifinals (2 seed) |
| 2016 |
3-0 |
Champions (4 seed) |
| 2017 |
3-0 |
Champions (1 seed) |
| 2018 |
2-1 |
Runner-up (1 seed) |
| 2019 |
0-1 |
Quarterfinals (4 seed) |
| 2020 |
0-1 |
Quarterfinals (6 seed) |
| 2021 |
1-1 |
Semifinals (6 seed) |
| 2022 |
1-0 |
First Round (3E seed) |
By reaching the ASUN Championship Final in each of its first three seasons of eligibility, FGCU became the only school in NCAA history to accomplish that feat.
Dunn-Martin, Samuel, Catto All Earn Postseason ASUN honors
• A trio of Eagles earned All-ASUN accolades this year Highlighted by
Tavian Dunn-Martin being named the ASUN Men's Basketball Newcomer of the Yea and
Kevin Samuel being selected as the Defensive Player of the Year. The duo were also named to the All-ASUN First Team and Second Team, respectively.
• Dunn-Martin becomes the first FGCU player to be named Newcomer of the Year since Brandon Goodwin in 2016-17. Samuel also became the first Eagle to be named the Defensive Player of the Year since Demetris Morant did so in 2016-17 as well.
• Having the pair each named to All-ASUN teams is the first time since 2017-18 where FGCU had multiple players earn postseason honors when Goodwin and Zach Johnson were both named to the All-ASUN First Team.
• For the second consecutive season, FGCU men's basketball senior
Caleb Catto was named to the ASUN All-Academic Team.
Catto Earns Academic All-District
• Senior
Caleb Catto was recently announced as a member of the CoSIDA Academic All-District team highlighting his tremendous work on and off the court. As a member of the team, he is now eligible for CoSIDA Academic All-America honors as well.
• Catto becomes the first-ever member of the program to earn the accolade. He was also the first player to be named to the ASUN All-Academic Team following the 2020-21 campaign.
• The guard currently carries a 3.75 cumulative grade-point-average as an integrated studies major. He has posted 4.0 GPA's in each of the last three semesters and was a member of the 2021 NABC Honors Court. Throughout his career, he has been honored on the FGCU President's List and Dean's List as well as on the ASUN Honor Roll. Catto serves on the Eagles Council (SAAC) as the group's Secretary and has been a member of the E.A.G.L.E.S. Leadership Institute. He has also contributed 65 hours of service to the greater Southwest Florida community in projects such as Eagle Reading, Toys for Tots, and Seminole Basketball Camps.
Historic Season Numbers
• The Eagles have set or are on the verge of setting several single-season program records:
| No. 1 |
Made 3pt FG |
307 |
| No. 1 |
Attempted 3 pt FG |
879 |
| No. 1 |
Blocks Per Game |
5.1 |
| No. 1 |
Total Blocks |
152 |
| No. 3 |
Assists Per Game |
16.0 |
| No. 5 |
Points Per Game |
77.7 |
| No. 6 |
Assists |
497 |
| No. 7 |
Rebounds Per Game |
39.0 |
Samuel, Dunn-Martin Having Record Breaking Years
•
Tavian Dunn-Martin is one of just 80 NCAA players since 1992-93 to have over 600 points and 180 assists in a single-season. He holds the FGCU single-game scoring record with 43 points and his 602 points are the third-most for a single-season in FGCU history - just behind Brandon Goodwin who had two 600-pt seasons.
• Dunn-Martin needs just four more points to set the FGCU single-season scoring record which is currently held by Cleveland Cavaliers guard Brandon Goodwin (632, 2017-18).
•
Kevin Samuel is on pace to become the only active NCAA player to have 1,000 career points & rebounds along with 300 blocks (298). His 92 blocks are a single-season FGCU record as are his 3.14 blocks per game. His 9.8 rebounds per game are also a single-season program record, while his 295 total rebounds are currently the second-most for a single-season. The 92 blocked shots also rank as the 3rd most for a career in FGCU history.
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.
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 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 208-142 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.
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--
