Under the Radar Game of the Day – Wednesday, February 25, 2015: North Florida at Florida Gulf Coast

Last night’s UTR Game was postponed until tonight due to a water main break on the Toledo campus.  For a discussion of that game, CLICK HERE.

North Florida at Florida Gulf Coast, 7:00 PM Eastern, espn3

When Dickie V is in the house, you know it is a big game.  Prior to tonight’s UNF-FGCU game, Dick Vitale will be at Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Florida for a book signing, and he has stated that he plans to stay and watch the game as well.  If he does, he is going to see a good one.  First place in the Atlantic Sun, and home court advantage throughout its conference tournament, is at stake tonight as the North Florida Ospreys are in town to take on the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles.  UNF enters the game one game behind FGCU in the league standings with only two games left to play.  With UNF having already won the first head-to-head matchup of these two teams this season, barring a crazy upset over the coming weekend, the winner of today’s game will be the top seed.

North Florida enters play tonight at 10-2 in the A-Sun and 18-11 overall.  Their wins not only include a home win over FGCU back on January 14 but also a huge road upset win at Purdue on December 6.  While North Florida has already guaranteed themselves at least the #2 seed on the A-Sun tournament, winning today’s game and Saturday’s home contest against Stetson will guarantee that if they make it to the conference championship game, it will be played in Jacksonville.  The Ospreys will look for a big effort from Dallas Moore tonight, who led the team to its first victory over Gulf Coast, dropping 27 points on the Eagles while collecting 9 assists as well.

Florida Gulf Coast enters play tonight at 11-1 in conference and 21-7 overall.  Their wins include a victory in Sioux Falls, South Dakota over Summit League co-leader South Dakota State and one in Springfield, Massachusetts over UMass.  The only really bad loss on their profile was a home game against Florida International back in mid-December.  Despite their impressive record, they need a win tonight to clinch the A-Sun regular season championship and avoid having to potentially go on the road for the conference tournament title game.  The Eagles are led by seniors Brett Comer and Bernard Thompson, both of whom many may recall from their Sweet 16 run two years ago.  Both players will need to be on top of their games tonight for the Eagles to avenge their earlier loss at UNF and clinch the regular season title.