MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- Call it a Turkey Day turnaround. After all, coach Butch Estes was pleading for a big turnout.

Barry University's men's basketball team will need all the help in it can get as it prepares for a marquee matchup Friday to open the Cesar Odio Thanksgiving Classic. The No. 5 Buccaneers (3-0) host No. 3 Bellarmine (4-0) at 2 p.m. Friday at the Health and Sports Center. Barry meets Grand Valley State (3-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday. All games will air on the Buccaneer Broadcast Network.

"Hopefully everyone can find their way here 2 o'clock Friday," Estes said. "It may be one of the best games ever played in this gym."

Bellarmine was a Final Four team a year ago. The Knights have three players scoring in double figures on a team that is shooting 53 percent from the field. Adam Eberhard is averaging 12.3 points and five rebounds. Ben Weyer is averaging 11.8 points and five rebounds, and Daniel Rasmer 10.3 points and 4.5 boards. 

Grand Valley has three players scoring 11 points a game, including Hunter Hale, Ben Lubitz and Drake Baar. Chris Pearl is pulling down 10.5 rebounds through two games, and Baar averages 6.3 for the Lakers, who are shooting 44 percent from the floor. 

The Buccaneers lead the nation in field goal shooting (57.6). Sunday Dech is averaging 21.3 points and six rebounds. Elvar Fridriksson is averaging 18.3 points and 7.1 assists. Sawyer Glick is scoring 17.7 points, Johannes Dolven 13.7 points and 6.7 rebounds, and Marko Tomic 12.3 points and 4.3 boards on a team that is third in the nation in scoring at 106.7 per game. 

But the Bucs have had a couple close calls for long stretches in the past two games, and must be sharper defensively. 

"We've still got some homework to do," Estes said.

Barry is 15-5 all time in its Thanksgiving tournament, and 4-0 under the Odio Classic name -- a tournament named after late 17-year Bucs coach Cesar Odio beginning with the 2015 event.

"It's in honor of one of our great coaches, and a man who meant a lot to many of us," Estes said. "We're happy to have this tournament in his name, and we're happy to have teams of this caliber coming to Barry to play."

Cesar Odio Thanksgiving Classic: Barry 17-year coach Cesar Odio is the winningest men's basketball coach in school history. Odio went 268-220 with two trips to the NCAA Tournament while on the sidelines in Miami Shores. The Thanksgiving tournament was named after Odio in 2015 while he was an administrator in the Bucs athletic department. Odio passed away in July 2016 after a lengthy battle with Leukemia.

Barry Coaching Records

Odio Classic MVPs
2015 - Yunio Barrueta, Barry
2016 - Elvar Fridriksson, Barry


Cesar Odio Thanksgiving Classic
Friday
12 p.m. -- Lynn vs. Grand Valley State
2 p.m. -- No. 5 Barry vs. No. 3 Bellarmine

Saturday
12 p.m. -- Lynn vs. No. 3 Bellarmine
2 p.m. -- No. 5 Barry vs. Grand Valley State

Buccaneer Broadcast Network

GAME NOTES