FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast men's basketball (13-15, 7-8 ASUN) will aim for its sixth consecutive home win and to split the season series with Central Arkansas (18-10, 13-2) at 2 p.m. on Saturday, February 21.

Saturday's game is FGCU's homecoming, a blue out, and senior day for Michael Duax, Brandon Dwyer, JR Konieczny and Rory Stewart.

Duax has been a key vocal leader for the Eagles throughout the 2025-26 campaign, his second at FGCU. He is one of five players to have played in every game, starting 25 of 28. Duax averages a balanced 7.2 points on 51.9% shooting from the field, 5.1 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He's posted six double-digit games this season, including a career high 22 points to lead FGCU to a win over Oral Roberts in the Coconut Hoops tournament. Duax also has 15 dunks this year, the second most on the team.

Dwyer's moment in the 2025-26 season came in the opener. The graduate walk-on scored his first career points with a 3-pointer against New College of Florida on November 3, accomplishing his well-documented "Road to One Point" goal. Dwyer hit two 3-pointers against New College to put his career points total at six.

Konieczny arrived in Fort Myers from South Bend and brought an immediate scoring punch. In his lone season in the Green and Blue, he has averaged a team-best 15.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game. Despite missing four games (22 starts in 24 games played), Konieczny has 17 double-digit performances, including eight 20-point games and two double-doubles. He's scored in double-digits five games in a row. His 15.3 points per game is the sixth best mark in the ASUN and his 6.4 rebounds per game are third in the conference.

Stewart has reprised his role as a 3-point specialist in his second year in Fort Myers. 77.3% of Stewart's shots come from behind the arc; he leads FGCU with 150 3-point attempts and has made 33.3% of those. The London native has a 6.8 turnover rate (per KenPom) – he's on pace to have the lowest turnover rate of any player in FGCU history with just 11 so far in 2025-26. One of Stewart's best games helped spur along the five game home win streak, as he scored 17 points and grabbed a season-high eight rebounds in the 72-64 win over North Alabama on January 29.

The last time out, FGCU held off a late Jacksonville rally to earn its fifth straight home win, 86-84, and sweep the season series with the Dolphins.

Isaiah Malone scored a career high 24 points, including an emphatic poster dunk, and surpassed Kyle Marks for the second-most blocks in a single season by an Eagle with 53. Rahmir Barno added 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field, and FGCU got double-digit games from all five starters in the win.

Ellerbee (13 points), Michael Duax (10 points) and JR Konieczny (10 points) joined Malone and Barno in double-digits. It's the first time five Eagles scored in double-digits in a game since the January 17 win over West Georgia that kickstarted FGCU's five-game home winning streak.

Of the five starters, only Malone tallied less than 30 minutes for FGCU due to foul trouble. His 10-for-11 night at the free throw line was key for the Eagles. Duax grabbed eight rebounds, including four on the offensive glass, to help the Eagles win the rebound battle 35-24.

UCA enters at 18-10 and 13-2 in ASUN play. The lone blemishes for the Bears in conference action were a pair of overtime losses at Bellarmine and EKU on January 8 and 10. Since, Central Arkansas has rattled off 11 straight wins.

The Bears have three scorers in double-digits, led by Camren Hunter at 19.2 points per game. Ty Robinson contributes 14.1 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. Luke Moore adds 10.4 points and 3.6 assists per game. As a team, the Bears average 1.7 blocks per game.

Central Arkansas leads the ASUN with 25.36 defensive rebounds per game. Hunter's 199 made field goals rank first in the conference and are 13th nationally.

The last time the two teams met, the Bears rallied late at home to defeat FGCU, 85-83. In that game, Rahmir Barno played all 40 minutes for FGCU and recorded an 11 point, 11 assist double-double; his second of the season. JR Konieczny led the Eagles with 25 points on 8-for-16 shooting from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Darren Williams scored a career high 15 points on five made 3-pointers off the bench, Rory Stewart had 12 on four made triples, and Isaiah Malone added 11 points and two blocks.

Ty Robinson led Central Arkansas and all scorers on January 3 with 27 points on 7-for-10 shooting from 3-point range. The Eagles lead the all-time series with the Bears 4-2.

Tickets are on sale now for senior day 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.