Fort Myers, FL- FGCU (9-20, 6-8) faces Jacksonville University (13-16, 6-8) Thursday night with both teams fighting for the best possible seed for the ASUN Tournament.
Overview:
FGCU and JU faced each other on 1/30 from Historic Swisher Gymnasium and the Eagles won 63-61 in a back and forth fast paced game the Eagles almost lost. The Dolphins came back from down 10 points to tie the game and Jalen Warren, who was clutch, hit the game winning basket.
Matchups to watch: Bell vs Rainwater
Bell is averaging a double-double a game (12.1 pts/10.3 rebounds) for the Dolphins and is a complete force at center. Bell’s stat line was 10 pts, 4 rebounds in the first matchup. Rainwater has been the one consistent big for the Eagles this season with Thomas being injured.
Barnes vs Catto/Scott
Destin Barnes has had a solid year too for JU and he has the size at 6’7 to be a difficult player to guard. We like our taller guards including either Zach Scott or Caleb Catto to be guarding Barnes since he could go off at any moment for JU. His stat line vs FGCU was 19 pts, 6 rebounds and was the Dolphins leading scorer in the game. Caleb tends to score his points in bunches in the 2nd half so this will be an intriguing matchup.
Stats:
JU averages 66.6 points per game, shoot 42.7% from the field, 31.8% from beyond the arc, and average 38.1 team rebounds per game. The Dolphins dish out 11.1 assists per game and on the defensive end of the ball average 5.0 steals and 2.8 blocks per game. JU averages 13.8 team turnovers per game.
Players To Watch For:
6’10 R-SR C David Bell 12.1 ppg/10.3 rpg
6’7 JR F/G Destin Barnes 11.9 ppg
5’10 R-SR G Aamahne Santos 8.1 ppg
Possible Starting Lineup (JU):
G-Aamahne Santos
G-Destin Barnes
G-Deanthony McCallum
G- Mo Arnold
C-David Bell
Possible Starting Lineup (FGCU):
G-Caleb Catto
G-Zach Scott
G-Jalen Warren
F-Tracy Hector Jr
C-Justus Rainwater
Prediction:
FGCU 67 JU 63
Eagles Nest Cast 