Feb. 29, 2008

WESTERN KENTUCKY (23-6) @ FLORIDA ATLANTIC (14-16)
March 1, 2008 - The FAU Arena (5,000)
Boca Raton, Florida - 7:00 p.m. ET
Live Audio

Game Notes in PDF Format

GAME # 31: Florida Atlantic University, having won nine of its last 12 games, plays Western Kentucky Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the FAU Arena. The game will be broadcast live on national TV courtesy of Fox College Sports Atlantic. FAU has clinched a home game, March 5, in the upcoming Sun Belt Conference postseason tournament against one of the league's lowest-seeded teams.

THE SERIES: WKU leads the all-time series 3-1. The Hilltoppers took the season's previous meeting 80-62 in Bowling Green back on January 16. FAU's lone win in the series, which began just a year ago, came in Bowling Green on Feb. 14, 2007, 78-73. WKU won the only ever game in Boca Raton 93-83 Dec. 30, 2006.

TV/RADIO/INTERNET: Fox College Sports Atlantic will air Saturday night's game on national TV. Jeff Younglove (play-by-play) and Paul Sanderford (analysis) will announce the action. Satellite Coordinates; Satellite: AMC-16, Transponder 21 (KU Band Analog) Downlink Frequency: 12120.000 Mhz Vertical Proper Credit: Hilltopper Sports Satellite Network. All FAU games this season will air live on commercial radio WMEN - 640 AM. Evan Cohen (play-by-play) will call Saturday's game versus Western Kentucky. Additional audio links to WMEN's radio broadcasts are accessible via Florida Atlantic University's official athletics website (FAUSPORTS.com).

COACH WALTERS (2ND YEAR): Florida Atlantic head coach Rex Walters (Kansas '93) joined the Owls 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 tutelage from some of the game's legendary coaches. Roy Williams at the University of Kansas and the NBA's Chuck Daly, Larry Brown and Pat Riley all mentored Walters during his years as a player.

FAU AT A GLANCE: Florida Atlantic (14-16; 8-9 SBC) has clinched a first-round home game March 5 in the upcoming Sun Belt Conference postseason tournament. The Owls turned in an inspired effort at Troy Wednesday to knock off the Trojans 99-93. Paul Graham III scored a career-high 27 and FAU's 99 points was a season-high. FAU has won 9-of-12 and is 10-3 at home. Forward Carlos Monroe is a candidate for Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year honors, he posted his 12th double-double of the season Wednesday at Troy, scoring 10 and clearing 10 rebounds.

QUICK LOOK AT WKU: Due to just one win over RPI top-100 teams Western Kentucky (23-6; 15-2 SBC) most likely won't make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team. That means the Hilltoppers will need to win the upcoming postseason league tournament, which they have earned a first-round bye due to winning 15-of-17 SBC games this season. 6-foot-5 senior guard Courtney Lee scores 20.6 points per night. Lee had 27 in WKU's 80-62 win over FAU earlier this season.

PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME: The Owls finished the month of February 6-2. FAU has won 9-of-12 dating back to Jan 19. The Owls rebounded from a 1-7 overall start and a 0-5 conference beginning to push its record to 14-16 and 8-9 in league play.

10-3 AT HOME: FAU is 10-3 overall at home this season (6-2 vs. SBC). The Owls had a seven-game home winning-streak snapped by FIU last week, which included six straight at "The Burrow." FAU's Jan. 24 game with Denver was moved to nearby Lynn University due to the Republican National Debates being held on FAU's campus that same night.

10-1 WHEN LEADING AT HALF: The Owls are 10-1 when leading at the half this season. FAU's largest halftime lead was 37 against Longwood (2/11/08).

7-0 WHEN SCORING 80+: FAU is 7-0 when scoring 80 or more points. All seven of those games have come in the months of January and February. Wednesday's total of 99 against Troy was FAU's highest scoring game of the year and the second time the Owls scored 90+.

LAST TIME OUT: Florida Atlantic turned in an inspired effort just when it was needed most, leading by as many as 17 before holding off Troy 99-93 on Wednesday. Paul Graham III scored a career-high 27 points, helping the Owls post its best offensive output of the season. Florida Atlantic (14-16) has now won 9-of-12 and the victory puts the Owls in position to clinch a home game in the upcoming Sun Belt Conference tournament. Senior forward Jeff Parmer scored seven of Florida Atlantic's first 12 points and Sanchez Hughley made a half-court shot as the halftime buzzer sounded to allow FAU a 41-30 lead at the break. Troy (11-17) was just 3-of-16 from three-point range in the first half, and just 11-of-40 for the game, an essential part of the Trojans attack. Troy entered Wednesday's game as the Sun Belt leader in three-point attempts (31) and three-point makes (11).

GRAHAM & PARMER KEY IN RECENT SUCCESS: Spanning FAU's last seven games (five wins) junior guard Paul Graham III (15.4 ppg) and senior forward Jeff Parmer (14.9 ppg) rank one and two in team-scoring. Parmer has connected on 11-of-18 (61%) of his three-point attempts, Graham poured in a career-high 27 points against Troy Wednesday.

A TRANSFER OF LEADERSHIP: Carderro Nwoji, Florida Atlantic's 5-foot-10 junior floor-leader has immediately established himself as one of the top point guards in the Sun Belt Conference this season. Nwoji has dished out 111 assists (3.7 apg) and has scored 309 points (10.3 ppg) as a first-year Division I player after transferring from Kansas' Redlands CC this offseason. Nwoji has been even better against Sun Belt Conference, scoring 11.6 ppg and passing out 3.6 apg in 34.2 minutes per night spanning 17 SBC games. He shoots nearly 40% from 3-point range, making 32-of-85 attempts thus far in 2007-08. He entered the week 3rd in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.64). He has reached double-figures in scoring in six of FAU's last eight contests. Top statistical SBC games include a season and career-high 25 points at Arkansas State (12/20/07). He distributed seven assists vs. South Alabama (1/2/08) and had a seven rebound 11-point night against Arkansas State (2/8/08) at home.

BENCH PRODUCTION: If the Sun Belt had a sixth-man of the year award Florida Atlantic's junior guard Paul Graham III would be an easy choice. Graham scores 13.9 points per night, reaching double-figures in scoring 15 times in 22 games played this season. Graham has made 49% of his field goal attempts against Sun Belt Conference opponents. Spanning FAU's last nine conference games (six of which were wins), Graham has scored on average 14.8 points, shooting 53% from the floor and 41% from three-point range.

MONROE CANDIDATE FOR SBC PLAYER OF THE YEAR: The league's top rebounder, Carlos Monroe is the only Sun Belt player to rank in the top six in both scoring (15.6) and rebounding (9.3 rpg). Monroe shoots an outstanding 51% from the field. 11 times in 17 Sun Belt games Monroe has scored 15 points or more. Four different times versus Sun Belt teams he has pulled down 13+ rebounds. Some of his top games this year... Monroe scored 24 points against both Troy (1/12/08) and Denver (1/24/08). 14 rebounds and 15 points against Arkansas State (12/20/07). Had a career night (21 points and 17 rebounds) against Middle Tennessee State this past weekend.

ALL GROWN UP: Florida Atlantic's 6-foot-4 freshman guard Sanchez Hughley emerged as a fixture in the Owls' starting lineup in early January, The Seminole County, Florida, native has posted double-figures in scoring four different times against Sun Belt competition. He has scored 171 points in his first collegiate season, averaging 7.3 ppg in league play. Scored a season and career-high 18 points at Louisiana-Monroe (2/6/08). Has six double-figure scoring nights on the year. Has started in 15 consecutive games.

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.

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.

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.

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.