Feb. 8, 2008

Game Notes in PDF Format

ARKANSAS STATE (9-14) @ FLORIDA ATLANTIC (10-14)
February 9, 2008 - The FAU Arena (5,000)
Boca Raton, Florida - 7:00 p.m.
Live Audio
Gametracker

GAME #25: Having won five of their last six games and owning a five-game home winning-streak, Florida Atlantic (10-14; 5-7 SBC) returns to Boca Raton to host Arkansas State (9-14; 4-8 SBC) Saturday night at 7 p.m. The game is the second half of an FAU-Arkansas State basketball doubleheader at "The Burrow," with the FAU and Arkansas State women's teams playing prior to the men.

THE SERIES: Arkansas State leads the all-time series 2-0. The Indians dealt FAU its first conference loss of the season when they edged the Owls 79-77 on December 20th in Jonesboro. The only other meeting between the two schools was also played in Jonesboro, an 84-77 Arkansas State victory last season (1/31/07).

TV/RADIO/INTERNET: All of FAU's basketball games will air live on commercial radio on WMEN - 640 AM. Evan Cohen (play-by-play) will call the action Saturday. Live scoring via GAMETRACKER and audio feeds for all FAU home games is available on FAUSPORTS.com. Every Arkansas State game can be heard live on 95.9 FM in the Jonesboro area and the live radio broadcast can be accessed through the Arkansas State athletic website, ASUIndians.com.

Rex Walters (2nd YEAR): Coach Rex Walters (Kansas '93) joined the FAU staff on April 20, 2005 and one year and eight days later he was promoted from associate head coach to become a head coach for the first time in his coaching career. In his first season at the helm (2006-07), Walters guided Florida Atlantic to its second-consecutive winning season. It marked the first time FAU posted back-to-back winning campaigns since the team enjoyed three straight years of .500-plus basketball from 1989-90 to 1991-92. Walters guided the Owls to 10 Sun Belt Conference wins a year ago, the third-most for a first-year Sun Belt member. The team also scored 2,321 points, the most in FAU history. As associate head coach under Matt Doherty in 2005-06, Walters helped the Owls close its tenure in the Atlantic Sun Conference with a 15-13 overall record and the program's best conference record at 14-6. Prior to Florida Atlantic, Walters' first collegiate coaching job came at Valparaiso, a two-year stint as an assistant under Homer Drew. His coaching career began in 2002-03 in Overland Park, Kansas, where he served as an assistant coach for the Blue Valley Northwest High School team that reached the Kansas Class 6A State Tournament. Walters' pedigree for coaching began as a player, receiving tutelage from some of the game's legendary coaches. Roy Williams at the University of Kansas and the NBA's Chuck Daly, Larry Brown and Pat Riley all mentored Walters during his years as a player.

FIVE STRAIGHT AT HOME: The Owls have run off five straight at "The Burrow" and own a 7-2 overall record at home this season. FAU will be attempting to up its Sun Belt Conference home record to 5-1 when they host Arkansas State on Saturday night. Last season FAU was 11-2 at "The Burrow," winning all four non-conference home games and posting an impressive 7-2 mark against the Sun Belt.

HUGHLEY'S CAREER-HIGH KEY TO ROAD WIN OVER ULM: Sanchez Hughley scored a career-high 18 points, allowing FAU its first Sun Belt road win of the season, a 77-72 victory over Louisiana-Monroe Wednesday night. FAU started quickly amassing a 21-12 lead with Hughley and Jeff Parmer combining to score FAU's first 17 points. The game was tied at the 9:15 mark of the first half before the Owls' ran out to a seven-point advantage, 34-27. The Warhawks responded with an 18-4 run to close the half, taking a 45-38 lead into the locker room. FAU methodically closed the gap early in the second half, ultimately taking a 54-53 lead on two Parmer free throws. The Owls seemingly suffered a huge loss when Hughley was whistled for his fifth foul with 8:21 remaining with the score tied at 60. A Tony Hooper triple gave ULM a 70-69 lead with 3:07 left. The Owls responded with six straight points to take a 75-70 advantage with 53 seconds left and after a potential game-tying three-point attempt was missed by ULM, Parmer hit two free throws to seal the win. "It was a game in which everyone found a way to contribute," head coach Rex Walters said.

A QUICK LOOK AT ARKANSAS STATE: The Indians are led by sharp-shooting guard Ryan Wedel. The junior from Minneapolis, Kansas, averages over 15 points a game and had 30 points, including the game-winning basket in ASU's 79-77 win over the Owls earlier this season in Jonesboro. ASU averages around 70 points per game. The Indians have struggled this season on the road, owning a 1-10 road record entering the weekend. 13th-year head coach Dickey Nutt led ASU to the Sun Belt Conference West Division title last season and is on the verge of breaking the all-time Sun Belt Conference victories mark of 112. ASU was 18-15 a year ago, 11-7 in the Sun Belt.

PRIOR TO THE GAME: "The Burrow" will be 'draped in pink' Saturday night as FAU's women's basketball game with Arkansas State, scheduled to tip at 5 p.m., will be themed "Think Pink" in an effort to raise breast cancer awareness on college campuses. The "Think Pink" initiative, created by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), will be combined with the NCAA "Pack the House" challenge to show nationwide support of women's basketball with the most spectators at a game, and National Girls and Women in Sports Day, to honor equality for women's sports.

9-7 IN LAST 16 OUTINGS: Dating back to Dec. 8th, FAU has gone 9-7 in their last 16 outings, including winning six of eight heading into Saturday's game with ASU. To ensure off season arena renovations would be completed in time, all seven of FAU's November games this season were played away from home. In turn, FAU opened the season winning just one of their first eight games.

NEXT UP: On Monday, February 11 at 7 p.m. Florida Atlantic will host a non-conference game against Longwood, an Independent squad from Farmville, Virginia. Longwood (6-20) enters the weekend winners of two-straight. The Lancers recently knocked off NJIT on the road 78-68 and last week picked up a home win over Southern Virginia 102-73. Longwood lost to Savannah State 79-67 on the road Jan 19th. FAU defeated that same Savannah State team 94-68 last week in Boca Raton.

Carlos Monroe REACHES 1,000-POINT PLATEAU: FAU junior forward Carlos Monroe scored 24 points against Denver on January 24 to become the sixth 1,000-point scorer in FAU history. Monroe passed Mike Bell with his performance and now stands in fifth place all-time on the career points list at FAU. Monroe has a chance to pass Damon Arnette for fourth place all time before the end of the season. Arnette scored 1,246 points in his FAU career.

FEELING A DRAFT: Former Owl guard DeAndre Rice became the first FAU player ever selected in the NBDL Draft on 11/01/07. Last year's team scoring leader was chosen 46th overall by the Tulsa 66ers with the fourth pick in the fourth round. The 66ers are the primary affiliate for three NBA clubs - the Dallas Mavericks, the Milwaukee Bucks and the New York Knicks.

WORKING ON NEXT YEAR: Rex Walters has announced the letter of intent signings of two new players for the 2008-09 season. FAU signed six-foot-six forward Dago Pena from Punta Gorda, FL. Pena averaged nearly 16 points and six rebounds a game as a junior. He was named class 5-A third-team all-state in Florida last year, and is a top 100 prospect in the nation according to Slam Magazine. The Owls also signed six-foot-two guard Shavon Shine from DeSoto High School in Arcadia, FL. Shine averaged 18 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals in his junior season. He was named to the Florida class 4-A honorable mention all-state team, and was named Charlotte Sun-Herald first team all-area. Both Shine and Pena are currently teammates on the highly respected Florida Rams AAU team.

20TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON: The 2007-08 season marks the 20th year of Florida Atlantic basketball. The Owls have enjoyed seven winning seasons in that time, including the last two campaigns under Matt Doherty and Rex Walters, respectively. The Owls posted an all-time best 21-7 record in 1989-90. The Owls made the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance in 2002.

HOME AT LAST... Sammy Hernandez: a 6-5 250-pound forward, transfered from George Mason to Florida Atlantic last season. He was an important part of the GMU team that advanced to the Final Four in 2005-06. Hernandez won two high school championships while playing high school basketball in the state of Florida during his prep career. He grabbed three rebounds in 14 minutes of action in his FAU debut against Monmouth and started his first game for the Owls against Louisiana-Lafayette.

MONROE FOR PRESIDENT: Carlos Monroe began the 2007-08 campaign with big expectations and a groundswell of support from Sun Belt coaches. After earning second-team All-Sun Belt honors a year ago, Monroe was the only player promoted to the conference's first team this preseason. The junior is currently ranked among the elite in scoring (16.1) and field goal percentage (52.5%). Monroe leads the conference in rebounding at 9.3 a game. ONE SHINING MOMENT: FAU is seeking its second-ever NCAA tournament appearance this season. The Owls earned their only previous invitation with an automatic berth as Atlantic Sun champions in 2001-02. As a 15 seed, FAU pushed second-seeded Alabama to the brink in a hard-fought 86-78 first round loss. The Crimson Tide, possibly staggered by that stern test, fell to eventual Elite 8 "Cinderella" Kent State in a 71-58 final in the second round.

"10": Florida Atlantic enjoyed considerable success during its first year in the Sun Belt, becoming just the third school in conference history to win at least 10 league games in its inaugural season.

FAU HALL OF FAME: Craig Buchanan (1993-97) was inducted into the FAU Athletics Hall of Fame in October 2007. Buchanan ranks first in career field goals made (582), and is second in all-time scoring (1,501 points) for FAU men's basketball. He was also the first FAU player to reach 1,000 points and the team's leading scorer during three of his four seasons, as the Owls transitioned into Division I and improved their record from 3-24 to 16-11 over that span.

SHOOTING FOR THREE: Last February's win over South Alabama clinched a winning regular season for FAU for the second-consecutive year. The Owls are now trying to finish the 2007-08 season strong in attempt to string together three winning seasons for the first time since the program moved to D-I in 1995-96. FAU had three consecutive winning campaigns from 1989-90 to 1991-92 in Division II.