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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men's basketball team (1-5) continues its local road trip with a marquee matchup at NCAA Division I Florida International (7-3) Tuesday at the US Century Bank Arena in Miami, Fla. at 7 p.m.
"We appreciate our good neighbors at Florida International for giving us the opportunity to play a Division I opponent in a regular season game," said head coach Gary Tuell. "Usually, if you're lucky enough to play a DI you get to do it in early November as an exhibition game. So this is a different deal for our guys, and we look forward to facing a very good FIU team on their floor in a regular season contest.
"Obviously this will be a stiff test for our guys, not just because we are stepping out of DII to play a DI opponent, but also because FIU is a big, talented, athletic squad that is playing much better than most people anticipated. They're 7-3 going into this game and that's a real testament to Coach Anthony Evans and the job he is doing in his first year with their program. I watched their game at South Carolina, and while they lost on the scoreboard, to be honest I thought the wrong team won. FIU out-played them, out-hustled them and out-toughed them for 40 minutes. They have a size advantage over us at every position, and they have the kind of athletes that we don't see very often in DII. So we have our hands full."
The Sharks enter the game with momentum on their side for the first time this season. They are fresh off a dominant win over former NCAA tournament team Belmont Abbey, 86-67. The Sharks led the Crusaders by as much as 24 points and were firing on all cylinders.
NSU has shot the ball very well all season, but have been plagued by allowing too many offensive rebounds and losing the turnover battle by wide margins. On Friday against Belmont Abbey, they won the turnover battle, 12-23. They did not defeat the Crusaders on the glass, but shot 31-for-60 to limit the amount of second-chance opportunities available.
"FIU presents a lot of problems for us, not the least of which is their ability to offensive rebound," stated Tuell. "Heck, at the end of the night Rakeem Buckles (a 6-7 senior transfer from Louisville) will probably have more offensive rebounds by himself than our whole team. He's a wonderful athlete, but not the whole show for them. Tymell Murphy (a 6-5 junior) is so physically tough and an excellent scorer. Jerome Frink (a 6-6 sophomore) is playing great for them, too. Their starting lineup is 6-3, 6-5, 6-6, 6-6, and 6-7 and their top two players off the bench are 6-4 and 6-7. That's not overwhelming size, but they all play much, much bigger than their heights. They are a very aggressive, athletic team that has nice chemistry and a great work ethic.
"We'll start the same lineup that got us our first win of the season last Friday. That means we'll be starting five guards – Stian Berg (6-2, Jr., Baerum, Norway), Maurice Fuller (6-1, Jr., Westfield, Ind.), Chris Page (6-5, So., Plainfield, Ind.), Justin Jeangerard (6-3, Jr., Weaverville, Calif.) and Brian Cahill (6-4, Jr., Arlington, Va.). I like the flexibility Casey Carroll (6-7, So., Youngstown, Ohio) gives us coming off the bench as our 'Super Sub' because we're playing him at four positions and he really seemed to embrace that role against Belmont Abbey. But when it comes to competing with FIU on the boards, we're literally in over our heads. Our guys will have to fight like crazy to get the rebounds below the rim because we're not going to get many, if any, above the rim."
Although FIU is a talented DI squad, they fit into the harsh schedule the Sharks have ahead of them. NSU will open Sunshine State Conference play against No. 5 Florida Southern Saturday at home at 4 p.m. After that, NSU finishes out the calendar year against No. 15 Livingstone on Dec. 17 at 8 p.m. and defending NCAA National Champions No. 4 Drury on Dec. 19 at 6 p.m. The Sharks next three opponents after Tuesday are a combined 17-0 and will likely move up in Tuesday's coaches poll.
"One of the reasons we scheduled this game was to help us prepare for Saturday's Sunshine State Conference opener against Florida Southern," admitted Tuell. "If we can find a way to compete with FIU it should give us some confidence going into Saturday's game against Southern. Regardless of how we play at FIU, it's a great opportunity for our young players and a chance to learn more about ourselves against another quality opponent. I think our win over Belmont Abbey showed what we're capable of doing when we play hard and give the right kind of effort. It certainly showed that we're going forward, not backward. Our players' attitudes have been good and they've embraced the tough schedule. They know they're improving. They can see it and feel it. We just have to keep grinding and stay patient and positive."
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