FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Nova Southeastern assistant coach Jordan Fee helped guide West Liberty to a combined 65 wins as a player in his two seasons with the Hilltoppers from 2010-12, but on Tuesday will hope to find the right recipe for the Sharks to upset his former team when both programs meet in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the first time since 2013.
 
Amidst a three-game losing streak, the Sharks face off against their second top-10 opponent in as many weeks and third ranked opponent overall already this season. While that may not bode well on paper, the best play from Nova Southeastern early on in the year has been in both previous meetings versus No. 20 Southern Connecticut State and No. 9 Barry.
 
The Sharks held a halftime lead and limited the Buccaneers to just 35.2 percent shooting before eventually falling by a narrow 79-73 margin back on November 30 to the Sunshine State Conference's top team through the first month of the season. Three days prior, though, Nova Southeastern withstood then-NCAA Division II scoring leader Michael Mallory to upend Southern Connecticut State 81-78 at home following a career-best 23 points from Dwayne Gibson.     
 
Gibson has continued to excel since the Sharks last win by scoring in double-figures in four straight, but outside of the sophomore and center Harrison Goodrick, Nova Southeastern has struggled to find consistency on the offensive end of the floor.
 
West Liberty's success, meanwhile, has been largely predicated on its depth on offense as it enters Tuesday with seven players averaging at least nine points per game, led by 17.1 from guard Dan Monteroso The former Purdue football player has been on a tear as of late, tallying at least 25 points in three of the Hilltoppers' previous four contests.
 
Winners of seven straight Mountain East Conference titles and owners of five Elite Eight appearances in the past six years, West Liberty dropped out of the top spot down to sixth in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll following its first defeat of the season to Fairmont State on December 4. Still, the Hilltoppers remained in the top-10 for the 79th consecutive week – the longest such run in more than a half-century of NCAA Division II polls. 
 
For complete coverage of Tuesday's non-conference action, visit NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_MBasketball.