MBB win at FGCU won't be easy; Jaaber tearing it up in Athens

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Florida Gulf Coast is in its first season as a Division I team, hasn't beaten anyone better than Bethune-Cookman and is 3-9.

But the Eagles are playing at home.

At Alico Arena FGCU is 1-2, where it beat Maryland Eastern Shore and lost to Drexel and No. 16 Butler.

The win was obviously a rare one, while the losses were to a pair of good teams, certainly better than Penn. In both games, the Eagles had an early second-half lead, tied it up later on, but lost in the end. Against Drexel, the Dragons went on an 18-0 run to seal it up, and Butler used 14-of-15 shooting from the free-throw line to slam the door shut in the 78-66 victory.

Some overdue notes from the Elon game:

Joe Gill and Dan Monckton sat out the games with injuries, though I believe neither one is serious.

Ibrahim Jaaber, Stephen Danley and Ugonna Onyekwe were all in attendance for the Quakers' fourth victory of the season. Onyekwe was on crutches and had just tore his meniscus. He also looked really skinny. If any of you watched him play for Penn he was a beast, a punishing but talented forward who could finish around the basket. He could have lost the weight in order to take some pressure off of his knee, but he may just be adjusting himself to the European game.

Jaaber, on the other hand, is tearing it up in Greece's top league. Playing for Egaleo, Jaaber dropped 40 points in a win over Olympiakos (and former Temple guard Lynn Greer), as Egaleo dealt its opponents their first loss of the season. He also hit the game-winning free throw two games later to bring his team's record to 6-3.

In all, Jaaber is averaging 21.7 points per game (a team-high) on 55 percent shooting, 4.7 assists per game, 4.7 rebounds, 2.2 steals and only 2.7 turnovers. (Full Egaleo stats can be seen here).

Some other former NCAA stars in the Greek league include Duke's William Avery, Louisville's Larry O'Bannon, UNC's Reyshawn Terry, Pitt's Levon Kendall, MSU's Mateen Cleaves and former NBA journeyman Mamadou N'Diaye.