College basketball: 3 Things from FGCU men going 3-0 in Hilton Garden Inn Invitational
Five games in eight days are draining. But five wins in eight days not as much.
The FGCU men's basketball team finished off the Hilton Garden Inn FGCU Invitational that featured three games in three days with an 85-78 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne in the finale on Sunday at Alico Arena.
"I thought they came out just ready to go," FGCU coach Michael Fly said. "I thought they wanted the game more than us the whole first half. I kept saying that to our guys 'We're not here tonight.'"
The Eagles (6-2) beat Western Michigan, 77-67, and Southeastern Louisiana, 90-71, on Friday and Saturday, respectively in the tournament. FGCU beat Division II school Eckerd to start the span last Sunday, then pulled out a 67-66 victory over Rhode Island of the Atlantic 10 on Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
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"5-0's better than however many games in however many days," Fly said. "We talk about trying to be desperate for wins, no matter how many we've won or lost. Each game has got to mean more to us than it does to our opponent. I really challenged our guys at halftime because I thought that they were more physical than us. I just thought that the game meant more to them the whole first half. I told the guys 'That's unacceptable. That can't be who we are.'
"Credit them, they came out the second half and looked like us which is nice."
Tavian Dunn-Martin had 27 points to lead four players in double figures, and Kevin Samuel had 16 points, 13 rebounds, 5 blocks and 4 steals.
"I feel like our five games in (eight) days it's pretty hard for a lot of teams to keep going and playing hard every game," Dunn-Martin said. "We started out a little slow in the first half, but we got it together in the second half and we finished this weekend off the right way."
"We came out, we competed for a whole five games in (eight) days," Samuel said. "We feel like we played great. Just going in, everybody believing in everybody, and just trying to go out there and having fun."
FGCU kept trying to pull away in the second half, but the Mastodons (3-3) wouldn't go away, rallying from 11- and 9-point deficits to stay within striking distance.
Samuel's layup capped a 12-0 run that gave FGCU a 57-46 lead with 12:35 remaining. That run capped a stretch where the lead changed hands on seven consecutive trips.
PFW got within five points twice after that, but a Dunn-Martin 3 made it 79-70 with 3:42 left, and Cyrus Largie (17 points) made a pair of free throws.
The Mastodons drew within five again with 31 seconds left, but were forced to foul and Caleb Catto made two free throws to seal the win.
FGCU, which played without backup forward Zach Anderson (illness), plays at FIU (6-1) on Wednesday.
3 Things To Know
1. Samuel rounding into form. The 6-foot-11 TCU transfer had been plagued by hamstring injuries during the preseason, Fly said, so he's still getting into game shape, and this one was perhaps evidence of what he can do when he's healthier. Time after time he either blocked shots, altered a shot, or forced a pass that led to a turnover.
"Kevin is starting to look like the Kevin he looked like at TCU when he was fully in shape and fully healthy," Fly said. "... He's still not totally back timing-wise, which is good news for us, but what he did tonight is what expect Kevin to be able to do. He's such a great teammate."
"I'm just going out there and do whatever I can do to get my teammates and me a win," Samuel said.
"It helps us a lot," Dunn-Martin said. "It gives us momentum. He does it in practice. He's done it in the game, so we build off that. That gives us energy to keep going. He's the reason we start the fast breaks most of the time."
2. Dunn-Martin comes through again. The Duquesne transfer had 13 assists in Saturday's win over Southeastern Louisiana, but provided the bulk of the offense this time, taking 21 of the team's 54 shots, and scoring 27 of its 85 points. He only had two steals, but the second was a big one. After a poor shot with plenty of time on the shot clock missed with just over a minute left, Dunn-Martin alertly stepped in front of the outlet pass and stole it, allowing the Eagles to run 28 seconds off the clock.
"We just want to keep improving, keep moving forward," Dunn-Martin said.
3. Largie large at both ends. Largie had 17 points and seven rebounds, but he also drew PFW leading scorer Jarred Godfrey for most of the night, with Catto and Austin Richie also pulling duty. Godfrey finished with 13 points, six below his average.
"I'm glad he's on my team," Fly said. "I would not want to play against him. He brought it from a competitive standpoint like he always does. I'm sure they weren't excited about him chasing him around."
Greg Hardwig is a sports reporter for the Naples Daily News and The News-Press. Follow him on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter: @NDN_Ghardwig, email him at ghardwig@naplesnews.com. Support local journalism with this special subscription offer at https://cm.naplesnews.com/specialoffer/
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: 3 Things from FGCU men's basketball 3-0 in Hilton Garden Inn Invite
