Coming off a seven-day break for the holidays, the FGCU men's basketball team (3-11) closes out its non-conference slate with a cross-country trip to Southern California (10-2) on Sunday night (7 PM PT/10 PM ET). The match-up against the Trojans and former Eagles head coach Andy Enfield will be available via the PAC-12 Network.
FGCU picked up an 84-62 win over St. Thomas prior to a seven-day break between games for the holidays. The win snapped a six-game losing skid for the Eagles and improved FGCU to 3-5 this season at Alico Arena. Three players reached double-figures in the win paced by 19 from sophomore Zach Scott. Junior Jalen Warren had 16 points along with six rebounds and four assists, while sophomore Caleb Catto added 15 points.
Of the Eagles' 11 loses this season, a total of five have been decided by six-or-fewer points (1-4) for FGCU - reflective of a mostly new roster.
As a team, the Eagles rank among the top three in the A-SUN for 12 different statistical categories. FGCU leads the league in total steals (95), steals per game (6.8), total blocked shots (65), and blocked shots per game (4.6). Defensively, the Eagles rank third in the A-SUN in points allowed per game (69.5), but have struggled offensively with 61.1 points per outing which ranks seventh in the league.
Individually, Scott leads the league in total steals (26), Warren ranks third in total assists (46), freshman Dakota Rivers leads the league in total blocks (22), and junior Justus Rainwater ranks seventh in total rebounds (94).
Scott continues to lead the Eagles offensively, averaging 12.4 points per game. He has contributed double-digit points in all but five games. He is followed closely by Catto (10.4 ppg) and Warren (9.2 ppg). The trio has combined for 448 points, over half of the team's 856 total this year.
Warren and Catto have also done a great job of sharing the rock. Warren leads the team with 46 assists, while Catto has contributed 36.
Opponents have had a hard time shooting over Rainwater and Rivers, as the duo has combined for 42 blocks this year. Rivers is averaging 1.57 blocks per game, the 12th-most of any freshman in the nation.
Scouting USC:
USC enters the game with a 10-2 overall record including four consecutive wins and a 5-1 home record. The only home loss of the year came against Temple (70-61) on Nov. 22. A trio of Trojans are averaging double-figures led by Onyeka Okongwu's 17.7 points per game. Jonah Matthews is second on the team at 12.6 per night, while Nick Rakocevic is averaging 12.0 points. Okongwu also leads USC in rebounding with 9.0 boards per game.
This will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools with USC visiting Alico Arena next season. It will also mark the first time the Eagles have faced their former bench boss Andy Enfield who led FGCU to the magical Sweet Sixteen run of 2013. Enfield, who has close ties to current head coach Michael Fly and assistant coach Joey Cantens, finished his two seasons in Fort Myers with a 41-28 overall record.
Livestats Link: https://usctrojans.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Livestream Link: https://pac-12.com/live
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