KENNESAW GA. – The #9 seeded Queens University of Charlotte men's basketball team (17-14 overall, 7-11 ASUN) is set to face the #10 Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles (17-14 overall, 7-11 ASUN) in the first round of the ASUN Tournament on Monday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. from the KSU Convocation Center and the game will be broadcasted on ESPN Plus. The game is being held at Kennesaw State University as the winner will face the top-seeded Owls on Tuesday night.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Royals are coming off a 73-53 loss at Liberty University to wrap up the regular season on Friday night. Despite being tied in the second half, Liberty would go on a 15-0 run to grab control of the game and emerge victorious on their senior night. Kenny Dye and Chris Ashby led the Royals with nine points each. Jay'Den Turner and Chris Ashby combined for 16 points and seven rebounds. Liberty won the battle on the boards 40-26 while scoring 42 points in the paint.
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
Monday night will mark the second meeting of all time between the Royals and the Eagles. The two programs squared off for the first time on January 26^th inside Curry Arena and the Royals defended the den 84-82. AJ McKee led all scorers with 23 points while also bringing down four rebounds and dishing out two assists. BJ McLaurin dropped 14 points and nine rebounds while Kalib Mathews added 16 points and four steals. Queens played fast all evening and managed to outscore FGCU in transition 18-3.
 
Game Notes
QUEENS UNIVERSITY OF CHARLOTTE (17-14 overall; 7-11 ASUN)

• Queens enters Monday night averaging 78.6 points per game on 45 percent shooting from the field and 35 percent from behind the arc. The Royals are the league's leading scoring offense and hold a 1.096 offensive efficiency rating.
• On defense, the Royals are allowing 75.5 points per game on 46 percent shooting from the field and 35 percent from behind the arc.
• Queens is 2-0 in neutral site games this season. The Royals took down Green Bay and Morgan State to claim the 2022 Jersey Mike's Jamaica Classic in November.
• The ASUN leads all NCAA Conferences in three-point attempts this season with a combined 10,495 attempts. The Royals are averaging 26.7 three-pointers per game, the third most in the league. Queens is sinking an average of 9.5 three-pointers per game.
• Queens has gotten to the free throw line the most in the ASUN and made the most free throws in the league. The Royals are top 50 in the nation in free throw attempts per game.
• Kenny Dye is the leader of the veteran Royals squad as the senior is averaging a team-high 17.2 points per game while hauling in 4.1 boards and dishing out 4.8 assists per game. The Royals are 112-34 when Dye is in the starting lineup as he is third in points per game and first in assists per game in the league. Dye broke former Royal Donay Fullwood's career assists record at Liberty with his 669^th career assist, a mark which held since 1991-95.
• AJ McKee has been a consistent producer this season, reaching double figures in 29-of-31 games. The sophomore is averaging 15.7 points per game against league opponents which is fifth-best in the ASUN.
• BJ McLaurin has been a weapon for the Royals averaging 9.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game across 22.8 minutes. McLaurin turned in his first double-double as Royal, and 15^th of his collegiate career against Bellarmine and scored a career-high 19 points against Liberty in the first meeting.
• Jay'Den Turner is averaging 8.2 points and 7.1 rebounds this season. The junior is third in the league in rebounds per game as he has brought down double-digit boards in four of the last seven games.
• The Royals are 42-8 in the last two seasons when outrebounding their opponent. This year, Queens is second in the ASUN in rebounds per game with 37.2 and second in the league in offensive boards per game with 11.2. Queens has posted double-digit offensive rebounds in 20 games this season, including 10 of their last 18 games.

 
FLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY (17-14 overall; 7-11 ASUN)

• FGCU enters Monday night 17-14 overall and 7-11 in league play. The Eagles are 2-3 in their last five games with victories over Austin Peay and Jacksonville.
• FGCU holds a 3-0 record in neutral games this season as they took down Northern Kentucky, Drexel, and Kansas City to claim the 2022 Gulf Coast Showcase.
• FGCU is averaging 71.8 points per game on 44 percent shooting from the field and 36 percent from behind the arc. The Eagles are the league's third best team in transition scoring as they average 10.77 points on the break.
• On defense, FGCU is allowing 69.7 points per game on 40 percent shooting from the field and 33 percent shooting from the field. The Eagles have the fourth-best-scoring defense in the ASUN as they rank third in blocks per game.
• FGCU is led offensively by Isaiah Thompson who is averaging 15.1 points per game on 39 percent shooting from the field.
• Zach Anderson is another standout for the Eagles as he is averaging 11.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Anderson has been named ASUN Player of the Week twice this season.
• Patrick Chambers is in his 1^st season at the helm of the Eagles program. Chambers was formerly at Penn State for nine seasons and Boston University for two seasons. He holds a 207-192 career record over 12 seasons.

 
Fans and families can purchase their tickets for Monday night's game by visiting the Kennesaw State Athletics website. The game will tip off at 7:00 PM EST from KSU Convocation Center.

Be sure to follow the Royals men's basketball program on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date on all the latest news and updates surrounding the team. Fans are also encouraged to follow Queens Athletics on social media @QueensAthletics to follow all of the Royals sports in action.