The FGCU men’s basketball team (11-7, 1-1 Atlantic Sun Conference) will look to bounce back, and potentially move into a first-place tie in the A-Sun standings, when it welcomes Jacksonville University (7-12, 1-1 A-Sun) to an expected sold-out and hostile Alico Arena Saturday night for a league clash at 7 p.m. on ESPN3.
SETTING THE STAGE
FGCU, ranked No. 20 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll, is coming off a difficult loss at hot-shooting North Florida Wednesday night in a matchup of the top-two teams in the A-Sun Preseason Coaches Poll. Jacksonville earned its first league victory of the season Wednesday by protecting its home court and holding off Stetson, 71-69. While still extremely early in the conference slate, FGCU can move into a first-place tie with a win and losses by UNF (at Stetson) and Lipscomb (at Kennesaw State).
WHAT TO KNOW
Like last Saturday’s A-Sun opener, the game is expected to be a standing-room-only sellout, with an extremely limited amount of general-admission tickets still available which can be purchased in person at the Alico Arena Ticket Office, by calling 239-590-7145 or by logging on to FGCUAthletics.com/Tickets (prior to Noon on Saturday). Like all FGCU home games, the contest – presented by Frantz Eye Care – will be broadcast on ESPN3 and via the Watch ESPN app. David Moulton will handle the play-by-play duties with J. Webb Horton serving as the analyst.
At halftime, three-time MLB All Star and former FGCU standout Chris Sale will address the crowd regarding his and wife’s charity initiative. In conjunction with Laces of Love, the Sales have established the men’s basketball home game on Thursday, Jan. 29, as an evening in which monetary or new shoe donations will be accepted to help children in need in Lee and Collier counties. To learn more about the cause, click here.
Additionally, red FGCU T-Shirts will be available for purchase in the lobby for $10. All proceeds go to support the American Heart Association, and the shirts can be worn on Feb. 14 and 19 for the REDOUT games. Finally, raffle tickets to the 2015 Final Four will be available for purchase at the marketing tables immediately upon entry into the arena.