Florida Gulf Coast took down No. 7 FAU 72-68 on Saturday to deliver one of the biggest upsets of the young college basketball season. The Eagles of the Sunshine State sent the Owls packing in a narrow defeat after dominating early and holding off a late surge by FAU to win in Fort Myers, Florida, where on its home floor it was a 17-point underdog.
The win is the first time FGCU won a regular-season game vs. a team in the AP Top 25 in 14 tries. The Eagles' only other victory vs. a ranked team came in the 2013 NCAA Tournament vs. No. 5 Georgetown in the first round before they marched to the Sweet 16 and became known as "Dunk City" under then-coach Andy Enfield, a tribute to its high-flying style of play.
The win for FGCU came just over a week after it narrowly squeaked past NAIA school Florida Memorial in overtime and the loss for FAU came one week to the day after it won a double-OT thriller over then-ranked No. 4 Arizona, highlighting the parity in the sport on a day that was expected to be relative quiet.
FGCU forward Zach Anderson led the charge in the upset with 21 points and 10 boards and got support from guard Dallion Johnson to boot, as Johnson added 18 points and finished 4 of 8 from 3-point land. FAU star Alijah Martin missed 11 of his 14 shot attempts and the team shot just 16-of-27 from the free-throw line to help stymie a rally attempt.
FAU joins ugly company with its ugly loss to the Eagles, becoming the only team ranked inside the top 30 of the NET rankings to have at least one loss to a Quadrant 4 team. What's more: the loss marks its second against a team in that quadrant as FAU's loss earlier in the season to Bryant is also categorized for now as a Quad 4 loss.
Florida Atlantic is the only top-30 NET team with a Quadrant 4 loss — and they now have two of them, at home vs. Bryant and at Florida Gulf Coast.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) December 31, 2023
FGCU has struggled this season to a 5-9 start, though a win over a top-10 opponent could propel it to a bounceback in a wide-open ASun.
