The 2019-20 campaign officially tips off on Tuesday night as the FGCU men's basketball team heads to the Gateway to the West to take on Saint Louis. The game is slated for an 8 PM start and will be televised regionally on Fox Sports Midwest+ and streamed nationally on ESPN+.
The Eagles are 2-3 all-time against teams from the Atlantic 10 with the most recent meeting against a conference foe coming in 2017 at Rhode Island. FGCU's best record against an A-10 team is 2-0 versus the University of Massachusetts.
FGCU is coming off an injury-plagued 2018-19 campaign where the Eagles posted a 14-18 overall record. Despite the adversity, FGCU finished tied for 3rd in the A-SUN, posted a 10-4 ledger at Alico Arena and went 7-1 against league foes at home.
Leading the Eagles in the new year with be the guard tandem of sophomore Caleb Catto and sophomore Zach Scott. Scott averaged 8.4 points during his freshman campaign where he earned A-SUN All-Rookie Team honors. Catto saw action in all 32 games with increasing minutes as the season progressed and finished his rookie year averaging 4.1 points.
The interior both offensively and defensively will be anchored by junior Brian Thomas who returned last December from injury and led the Eagles in blocked shots (44) while also posting 4.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game.
Several newcomers will figure to make prominent impacts on the line-up as the season begins.
Junior Jalen Warren will be one of two primary point guards on the team after transferring to FGCU from Eastern Florida State College where he averaged 12.8 points and 5.3 assists last year. Junior Sam Gagliardi will be a deep threat around the perimeter after notching 12.7 points on 93 three-pointers last year at Citrus College. Redshirt-sophomore Malik Hardy will also be eligible this year after sitting in 2018-19. In his freshman season at Nova Southeastern, Hardy averaged 17.1 points, thanks to a 43.5 percent average beyond the arc, and 4.5 rebounds.
On the inside, junior Justus Rainwater and senior Tracy Hector, Jr., add size and athleticism. Rainwater posted 8.8 points and 6.1 rebounds last year at Cochise College, while Hector scored 6.8 per game while adding 5.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists at FAMU.
A talented freshman class is also expected to have potential for the Eagles with Jalen Harper, Dakota Rivers, and Qwanzi Samuels expected to make contributions throughout the campaign.
Scouting Saint Louis:
This will be the first-ever match-up between FGCU and Saint Louis. The Billikens went 23-13 overall last year and captured the Atlantic 10 tournament title behind a thrilling 55-53 win over St. Bonaventure in the championship. Their season ended in the NCAA Tournament with a loss to fourth-seeded Virginia Tech.
SLU graduated its leading scorer Javon Bess, who averaged 15.3 PPG and was named the A-10 Defensive Player of the Year, but forward Hasahn French is one of the team's top returners after averaging 9.3 points and a team-high 8.4 rebounds as a sophomore.
Livestats Link: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=284187
Livestream Link (ESPN+): https://www.espn.com/watch?id=b336e48f-565a-4b12-aa0e-9deec6d561b0&ex_cid=DSS-OFF-Social-Static_image-Tune_In-College%20Basketball-Florida_Gulf_Coast_vs._Saint_Louis-US-EN
Fox Sports: https://www.foxsportsgo.com/register?device_type=web&device_id=b3783150-0025-11ea-972b-e9ce8598a5ce&redirect_url=/share/1128399
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