Feb. 14, 2008

FLORIDA ATLANTIC (12-14) @ SOUTH ALABAMA (20-5)
February 16, 2008 - The Mitchell Center (10,000)
Mobile, Alabama - 7:05 p.m. CT
Live Audio

Game Notes in PDF Format
Coach Walters Interview: Weekly Men's Hoop Preview

GAME #27: Florida Atlantic (12-14; 6-7 SBC) travels to Mobile, Alabama to play arguably the best team in the Sun Belt Conference Saturday night at 7:05 p.m. CT. FAU owns a five-game winning-streak and is on the verge of clinching one of the Sun Belt's top-eight postseason tournament seeds. A strong finish would allow the Owls to host its first-round conference tournament game on March 5. Saturday's opponent, South Alabama (20-5; 12-2 SBC), is 12-0 this season when playing on its home floor in the 10,000-seat Mitchell Center.

THE SERIES: South Alabama leads the all-time series 2-1. The two teams played a close game earlier this season in Boca Raton on January 2nd. FAU trailed by just two points, 42-40, with 12:07 remaining before the Jaguars pulled away to win 66-55. Last season each team posted a victory on its home floor. FAU defeated South Alabama 79-69 at the FAU Arena on Feb. 21, 2007, avenging a 101-76 loss in Mobile on Jan. 6, 2007.

TV/RADIO/INTERNET: All FAU games this season will air live on commercial radio WMEN - 640 AM. Mark Eisenberg (play-by-play) will call Saturday's game in Mobile. Additional audio links to WMEN's radio broadcasts are accessible via Florida Atlantic University's official athletics website (FAUSPORTS.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

FIVE STRAIGHT, SEVEN-OF-EIGHT: Florida Atlantic is peaking at the right time, owning a five-game winning-streak, and dating back to January 19th the Owls have won seven of their last eight. FAU is averaging 83.1 points per game and has shot 51% from the field during that stretch. The Owls are 5-1 in Sun Belt Conference games in its last eight overall, winning eight consecutive games in Boca Raton.

OWLS LED BY AS MUCH AS 43 POINTS IN ROUT OF LONGWOD: Florida Atlantic (12-14) easily defeated Longwood, 93-69, Monday night. The Owls led by as much as 37 points in the first half and 43 in the second- never trailing. Jeff Parmer scored 14 points to lead the Owls. Sean Alarcon had 13 points and Carlos Monroe chipped in 11. Parmer also pulled down six rebounds, and Carderro Nwoji added 10 points. FAU, which has won five straight, entered the break leading 55-18. Lamar Barrett finished with 16 points and six rebounds for Longwood (6-22). Kirk Williams and Ryan Bogan each had 13 points. Williams also had six rebounds.

A QUICK LOOK AT SOUTH ALABAMA: The Jaguars lost on the road to Middle Tennessee State 76-70 Thursday night. It was just their second loss in 14 Sun Belt Conference games this season. Back on January 2nd, South Alabama defeated FAU 66-55 in Boca Raton. The Owls trailed by just three points at the half in that game, 32-29, but the Jags overcame a poor shooting night by team-leader Demetric Bennett to pick up the road win. JC transfer Dominic Tilford came off the bench to score 20 points in that game. The Jags enter the weekend with a perfect 12-0 record at home this season and are battling Western Kentucky for the regular-season Sun Belt Conference Championship title and rights to the top seed in the league's upcoming postseason tournament. The Jaguars rank 22nd nationally in rebounding margin (+6). Notable non-conference wins include a blowout victory over San Diego and a 71-68 decision over Mississippi State- both on neutral floors.

NEXT UP: Florida International (8-16; 5-9 SBC) visits the FAU Arena Wednesday, February 20. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. FAU's local rivals defeated the Owls 69-58 in Miami on January 5th. More recently, FIU Head coach Sergio Rouco used his 11th different starting lineup against Middle Tennessee State last week. The team responded by winning 66-60, snapping a three-game losing streak. FIU has this weekend off, and will enter Wednesday's game with FAU on a full week's rest.

SCORING EFFICIENCY: Spanning FAU's last eight games (seven of which were wins) FAU has averaged 83.1 points per night. FAU is 6-0 this season when scoring 80 points or more. During this recent stretch of success the Owls have attempted on average, 5 fewer shots than their opponents, and are shooting 51% from the floor.

WINNING CLOSE GAMES: FAU is 8-5 in games this season decided by six points or less. Additionally, the Owls won its only overtime game of the year thus far, edging Denver 70-68 on Jan. 24th - a game played at nearby Lynn University (the game was moved due to scheduling conflicts with the 2008 Florida Republican Debates, which were held on the FAU campus that same night).

DOUBLE UP: FAU 6-foot-8 junior forward Carlos Monroe (Philadelphia, PA) has ten double-doubles this season. The Sun Belt's leading rebounder (9.0 rpg) also scores 16.0 points per night. His 11 points Monday night against Longwood marked the seventh straight game and the tenth time in eleven outings he has reached double-figures in scoring.

PARMER KEY IN FAU WIN-STREAK: Jeff Parmer has been key to Florida Atlantic's late-season resurgence. The senior forward is averaging 16.4 points per game, connecting on 23-of-32 shots from the floor in the last four games. Parmer led the Owls to a pair of Sun Belt Conference wins last week. He scored 18 in FAU's 77-72 road win over Louisiana-Monroe Wednesday and totaled 15 Saturday night in a winning-effort against Arkansas State.

11-7 IN LAST 18 OUTINGS: Dating back to Dec. 8th FAU has gone 11-7 in their last 18 outings, including winning eight of ten heading into Saturday's game with South Alabama. 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 1-7.

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.

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 (16.0) and field goal percentage (52.5%). Monroe leads the conference in rebounding at 9.0 a game.

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.

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 firstFAU 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.

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.