FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast men's basketball will continue its full slate of in-state opponents in the month of December when it welcomes FAU to Fort Myers.

The Eagles look to bounce back after a road loss to FIU on Wednesday. FGCU's offense had a solid outing, scoring 83 with five players in double-digits, including double-doubles from Isaiah Malone (16 pts/10 reb) and Rahmir Barno (12 pts/13 ast), but the defense was unable to string together late stops to put together a run to get back in the game.

The Owls travel to Alico Arena seeking revenge for FGCU's 80-78 win in 2024-25 in Boca Raton on Nov. 30 off a Jevin Muniz buzzer-beater. Michael Duax had 12, Barno had 11 and Tristen Guillouette had 9 a year (and seven days) ago.

Free throws have been a key storyline for the Eagles in the last two weeks. FGCU shot 30 or more free throws in every game at Coconut Hoops. It's the first time FGCU has attempted over 30 free throws in three consecutive games in the Chambers era and the first time the Eagles have taken 35+ free throws in any game since 2019. In fact, it's only the second time in program history that the Eagles have had three consecutive games of 30+ free throw attempts. The only other occurrence was at the beginning of the 2010-11 season, when FGCU took 34, 34 and 46 free throws against Indiana, Southeast Missouri State, and Grambling State. 

In the 13 of the 18 previous seasons of D1 FGCU men's basketball, the Eagles didn't record three games with 30+ free throw attempts over the entire season. It's already the first season since 2015-16 (ten years) that FGCU has had more than two games taking 30 or more free throws. The single-season program record for 30+ free throw attempt games is six, set in 2010-11.

The all-time series is tied 4-4. 2025 will be the fourth year in a row the two squads have met. 

FAU is led by Devin Vanterpool in most statistical categories, as he averages 16.13 PPG and 7.25 RPG. He leads the team with 14 steals and 26 assists, the latter along with Kanaan Carlyle. Devin Williams has 23 blocks on the campaign for the Owls.

FAU enters off back-to-back losses against George Mason and St. Bonaventure, but boasts wins over Boston College, College of Charleston, Loyola Marymount and Pacific. The Owls also fell to Liberty.

Tickets are on sale now at https://fgcuathletics.evenue.net/list/FGCU. 

For more information on FGCU men's basketball, follow @FGCU_MBB on Instagram, X (Twitter) and Facebook, and visit fgcuathletics.com.