Defense lets Eagles down again
Red-hot shooting by Jacksonville was compounded by FGCU’s lackluster defensive effort Wednesday night which led to a 78-69 victory for Jacksonville at Alico Arena.
The Eagles (13-9, 4-2 A-Sun) dropped their second conference game in a row.
Jacksonville’s Josh Adeyeye drained a game-high 35 points, which is the most by any Eagles opponent in their Division-I history. It’s also the second-most points against the Eagles all-time.
In Sunday’s loss at Lipscomb, the Bisons sank 19 3-point shots, also the most against FGCU all-time.
FGCU entered the game leading the conference in points allowed, but the defense has allowed consecutive losses on the heels of a seven-game winning streak.
The loss came despite redshirt junior Marc-Eddy Norelia setting the program’s D-I single-season record with his eighth double-double, scoring a team-high 16 points and grabbing a team-best 11 rebounds. Sophomore Christian Terrell secured his second career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and redshirt freshman Zach Johnson continued his torrid stretch by matching Norelia’s 16 points.
“Jacksonville got off to a great start and we played behind the entire game,” said Eagles coach Joe Dooley. “They were more aggressive and we couldn’t get stops. We had one little spurt in the first half, but then we turned it over and gave up offensive rebounds that led to 3-point shots. We never got into a rhythm offensively or defensively. They were more energetic. We need to be bring more energy because energy finds the ball.”
The setback moves FGCU into a second-place tie in the A-Sun with Jacksonville. The Eagles travel to North Florida on Saturday before a rematch at Jacksonville (12-11, 4-2) on Monday.