Florida Gulf Coast 12/3 1:00 ESPN+

[swilsonsp4]

Sunday, Florida Gulf Coast University will be at 5th/3rd. The Eagles (1-6) have not beaten a D1 team thus far. However. no opponent has blown them out. They lost at IN and Pitt by 6 and 12, respectively. FGCU also lost all three games in the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands to mid-majors.

Their KenPom ranking is #230. For comparison, Howard are #216. The Bearcats are #36 presently. The Eagles' adjusted defensive efficiency is one of the worst in the country (#323). Offensively, they are respectable (#138). However, they've shot poorly from the arc in most games (29.6%), although they had two games in which they canned about 38%.

FGCU play tonight (Wednesday) at FIU at 7:00. That game will be shown on CBSSN (DirecTV Channel 221).

Based on KenPom, the Cats should be about 25-point home favorites, if they play reasonably well.

[GoBearcats31]

Second leading scorer Isaiah Thompson played for Purdue his first three years (this is his second at FGCU) and got some pretty decent minutes -- he did not play in the season-opening loss at Indiana.

Third leading scorer Keeshawn Kellman came from Princeton and scored 8 points and 4 rebounds in the Tigers' upset of #2 seed Arizona in last year's NCAA Tournament, and went for 8 and 6 in the win over #7 Missouri to reach the Sweet 16. ESPN suggests he started versus Arizona, Missouri, and Creighton but never played more than 15 mins in those games.

Head coach is Pat Chambers who coached at Penn State from 2011 through 2020 and would have had PSU dancing in 2020 but for COVID cancellation. He stepped down in October 2020 following an investigation into inappropriate remarks made to PSU freshman Rasir Bolton, a former UC recruit.

[swilsonsp4]

After watching the first half of the FGCU-FIU game, I've come to the conclusion that the Eagles can't handle pressure. FIU pressed them relentlessly all over the floor, run-and-jump. One FIU guard has ... are you ready for this? ,,, Nine, count 'em, nine steals.

The Panthers are up, as you might imagine, 44-29. FGCU shot 8-for-20 from the floor (2-for-10 treys). The Eagles turned it over 13 times. Because of the frenetic pressure, FIU committed a bunch of fouls, allowing FGCU to shoot 14 FTs, of which they made 11.

FGCU started out in what appeared to be a matchup defense but spent a good portion of the half in a switching man-to-man.

[swilsonsp4]

Eight minutes into the second half, FGCU have cut the lead to 54-52. They have committed only one turnover and have hit on 8-for-13 from the floor.

[swilsonsp4]

FIU has trouble scoring in the half-court. Everything is predicated upon their ability to turn the other team over. Once the Eagles calmed down, they started chewing FIU apart. 6:05: FGCU 63-58.

FIU and FGCU are #229 and #230, respectively, per KenPom.

[swilsonsp4]

F: FGCU 68-65. They didn't quit.

[Lobot]

This is not the Dunk City team of the past that Andy Enfield had in the tournament. FGCU is 2-6 after last night's win. The other win was over a lower division team, Ave Maria. They've lost to at least two MEAC schools, same conference as Howard. They aren't very good. FIU is 2-7 so that W doesn't say much.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...stats/_/id/526

[Lobot]

Lukosius it out for today's game. Considering he got hit by a car, that's not surprising.

[leo from jersey]

FGCU is getting points inside

[Rufus]

That's the CJ I want to see

[leo from jersey]

I sure do like that James

[leo from jersey]

OUr announcers are bad too (not Terry). He called James Thomas twice.

[Rufus]

Yea we have a several racehorses that want to run but it's a little sloppy at times.

[Rufus]

CJ getting hot just in time for for X

[leo from jersey]

Guys isn't this great watching the Cats after the miserable last few years.