MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- Barry will wrap up the regular season Saturday when it visits Embry-Riddle for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
The No. 25-ranked Buccaneers (20-5) secured the top seed to next week's Sunshine State Conference Tournament, and will host a quarterfinal game 7 p.m. Saturday at the Health & Sports Center.
Embry-Riddle (16-9) tested Barry in the first game between the Bucs and Eagles this season -- the Buccaneers pulling that game out, 86-80, in the Health & Sports Center on Jan. 14. Last year, Barry shot a blistering 63.8 percent in the ICI Center, also in the final week of the regular season.Â
But with different personnel this season, the Bucs operate under different dynamics. Couple that with the fact the Eagles are playing well of late -- they are coming off a 26-point road win at Palm Beach Atlantic Wednesday, and have won six of their past eight -- and the Bucs know nothing is a given.
"Even if it's not a conference game, we still have to treat it like it's our last," Bucs senior forward
Adrian Gonzalez said after scoring 30 points for the fifth time this season in Wednesday's SSC title-clinching win.
The Eagles, who are in their year as a Sunshine State Conference and NCAA Division II provisional member, have five players scoring in double figures. Point guard Dalton Barnes is averaging 7.3 assists per game. That is just shy of Barry's
Elvar Fridriksson, who ranks fourth in the country at 7.8 per game.
"Now you have to depend on your leadership," Bucs fourth-year coach
Butch Estes said. "I've often said at this time of the year, they have to coach themselves. If they're not coaching themselves, then we're not very good. Now it's up to them to take us the rest of the way. We have great leadership, and I'm sure the guys will be ready to play on Saturday."
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