Jan. 15, 2008

BOCA RATON, FL - After a 93-88 win over Troy on Saturday, the Florida Atlantic University men's basketball team will return to the site of last year's biggest regular season victory traveling to Western Kentucky to face the Hilltoppers on Wednesday night. FAU will then return to Boca Raton to face North Texas on Saturday.

FAU will go into this week's game with a boost after defeating the Trojans for their first Sun Belt win of the season. Head Coach Rex Walters feels that it may prove to be the turning point of the season.

"(Defeating Troy) gives our guys some confidence. We had some guys step up and make plays. It's something to build on."

In last year's visit to Diddle Arena, the Owls (5-12, 1-5 Sun Belt) upset the Hilltoppers 78-73 behind 26 points and 12 rebounds from Carlos Monroe. Paul Graham had 17 points and Jeff Parmer added 14. The win came in the middle of a five-game Owl winning streak and gave FAU a .500 record for the first time all season. It also played a huge part in allowing the Owls to host their first round Sun Belt Tournament game against Florida International.

The Hilltoppers (12-5, 4-1) are third in the Sun Belt in scoring at 76.5 points a game, led by senior guard Courtney Lee. Lee, who was a First-Team All-Sun Belt performer last season, is second in the conference in scoring at 20.4 points a game. Coach Walters said that meeting WKU three times last season aids in his team's preparation.

"We have a good feel for what they want to do both offensively and defensively. They're a bunch of tough kids."

FAU hosts the University of North Texas. The Mean Green (12-4, 3-2) is second in the conference in scoring at 80.6 points a game. North Texas features the explosive backcourt tandem of Josh White and Collin Dennis. White and Dennis are the two leading scorers on the team averaging 15.9 and 13.8 points per game, respectively. Dennis was recently named Sun Belt Player of the Week after averaging 19.3 points while helping North Texas defeat ULM, Arkansas State and Louisiana-Lafayette. Keith Wooden balances out the attack along the Mean Green frontline, scoring 11.2 points and grabbing 6.2 rebounds a contest.

Wednesday's game against Western Kentucky will start at 8 p.m. Saturday's game against North Texas will start at 7 p.m., preceded by the football Championship Celebration at 3:30 p.m. and the women's game against North Texas at 5 p.m. Live audio of both games will be available on fausports.com and WMEN-640AM. Fans will also be able to follow the North Texas game via GameTracker on fausports.com.