Feb. 10, 2009

Game Notes in PDF Format

DENVER (10-13) @ FLORIDA ATLANTIC (5-20)
Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009 - 7:00 p.m. ET
FAU Arena (5,000) - Boca Raton, FL

GAMES #26/27: Florida Atlantic hosts Denver Thursday night at the FAU Arena, then travels to Mobile for a game with South Alabama Saturday night. Thursday night's game with Denver will tip at 7 p.m. ET. The game at South Alabama's Mitchell Center - the site of last year's SBC Tournament - is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET.

TV/RADIO/INTERNET: All of FAU's regular season games (home and away) will air on live commercial radio WFTL - 640 AM with audio links available via FAUSPORTS.com. Evan Cohen (play-by-play) will call the game for WFTL on Thursday. Steve Bishop (play-by-play) will describe the action from Mobile on Saturday. Live scoring via GAMETRACKER and a live video stream of Thursday's game with Denver can be accessed on FAUSPORTS.com.

GAME NOTES:
# Mike Jarvis (368-222 all-time) is in his first year as FAU head coach
# Jarvis got the Owls off to the best start in its Division I history (3-1) before injuries and eligibility issues decimated the team
# The Owls have played with just eight scholarship players for 11-straight games
# FAU is 4-6 at home and 0-13 on the road
# The Owls are 36-13 at the FAU Arena over the past three seasons
# Denver's 42-game road losing streak is the longest active streak in NCAA DI
# FAU lost at Denver (66-55) Dec. 16, 2008
# FAU lost at home to South Alabama (74-69) Jan. 1, 2009
# Denver is the nation's youngest team (average age = 18.9)
# South Alabama entered the week 13-11 (6-7 Sun Belt)... last season the Jaguars finished 26-7 (16-2 Sun Belt) and received an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament
# FAU is coming off a pair of losses last week (75-68 @ UNO; 78-63 vs. Troy)
# FAU is being outscored by just six points per night, making its record a bit misleading
# In Sun Belt games G Paul Graham III is 1st in scoring (18.9); G Alex Tucker is 1st in assists (5.6); F/C Brett Royster is 1st in blocks p/g (2.6)
# G Paul Graham III needs 17 points to move into 3rd on FAU's all-time scoring list
# Graham's 33 points vs. Troy (2/7) was the best single-game scoring performance by any Sun Belt player this year and the 5th-highest single-game total in FAU history
# F/C Brett Royster enters the week with 58 blocks, needing two more to establish a new FAU single-season record
# Rookie G Shavar Richardson leads all Sun Belt freshmen in scoring (12.0 ppg) and classmate G Alex Tucker has turned in the best passing season by any freshman in school history
# NEXT UP: Four regular season games will remain for FAU after playing USA Saturday. Next week the Owls will play a non-conference game at independent Savannah State (12-12) Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET.

FLORIDA ATLANTIC: FAU (5-20) began the year playing 10 of 13 away from home and have not been able to compensate for a lack of depth, as just eight scholarship players suit up for first-year head coach Mike Jarvis. The Owls are all but assured of playing on the road (No. 13 vs. No. 4 game) in the Sun Belt Conference postseason tournament. Despite its record, the team is competitive night-in and night-out, thanks largely to Paul Graham III's league-best 18.9 points per game in conference play. Graham was 8 of 11 from the 3-point arc against Troy Feb. 7 en route to scoring a career-high 33. The Owls have played 19 of its 25 games without senior F Carlos Monroe, the projected Sun Belt Conference "Player of the Year." Starting guard Xavier Perkins - who was scoring 12.4 points and clearing 6.4 rebounds through FAU's first eight games - has missed the last 17 to focus on academics. A youth movement is underway as Jarvis tries to build the program. Rookie guard Alex Tucker has emerged as one of the league's best distributors. Tucker's 11 assists last Thursday at UNO equaled a single-game school record and is on pace to break the school's all-time single-season assist record. Freshman guard Shavar Richardson, who like Tucker starred at the prep school level last season, is leading all Sun Belt freshmen in scoring (12.0 ppg). Sophomore big-man Brett Royster has swatted 58 shots this season, ranking him No. 29 in the NCAA in blocks entering the week.

DENVER: The Pioneers (10-13) are desperately trying to snap its NCAA-worst 42-game road losing streak. Denver finished 11-19 last season in the program's first year under head coach Joe Scott. Five-straight losses to begin the season included dropping close games at Northern Iowa (61-56) and at home against Northern Colorado (71-66) in overtime, but Denver has rallied to put together a 5-7 Sun Belt record, thanks to winning 5 of 6 vs. the league at Magness Arena in Denver. A 1987 graduate of Princeton, Scott has instilled a disciplined `Princeton' style offense that scores 60.4 points per game while its defense is best in the league, limiting opponents to a league-low 61.2.

THE SERIES WITH DENVER: Denver leads the all-time series 2-1. The two teams have played one regular season game annually during the past two seasons, but are playing twice this year. In the previous meeting this season the Pioneers overcame a seven-point second-half deficit to beat Florida Atlantic 66-55 at DU's Magness Arena back on December 16. It was the Sun Belt Conference opener for both schools. Led by 24 points from Carlos Monroe, FAU beat Denver in overtime 70-68 last season in Boca Raton (a game that was played at nearby Lynn University due to a presidential debate on the FAU campus). Denver also posted a 90-85 victory over FAU at Magness Arena in January of 2007.

THURSDAY'S GAME PROMOTIONS:
First 100 FAU students receive a voucher good for a FREE hot dog ,popcorn or nachos
FAU baseball team signing autographs from 6pm-7pm
Florida Panthers Ice Dancers/Stanley the Panther signing autographs from 6pm-7pm
Florida Panthers Ice Dancers halftime performance
Bring your church bulletin to the game and be admitted for half price

@ SOUTH ALABAM A SATURDAY: South Alabama (13-11) guard C.J. Garner blocked a tying 3-point attempt by FAU's Carderro Nwoji with 4 seconds left and went the length of the court to score with 1 second remaining, preserving a 74-69 win over the Owls in Boca Raton January 1st. The Jaguars improved to 9-5 after that win but have won just 4 of 10 since. Senior guard Dominic Tilford (17.4 ppg) is one of the league's top scorers. USA ranks 25th nationally in rebounding margin (+6.4) and have compiled a 7-5 record at home.