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FGCU thrashes Fairleigh Dickinson in First Four

Joe Dooley, Jamie Dixon

Florida Gulf Coast coach Joe Dooley, right, looks back at the bench as Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon, left, watches the action in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014, in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh won 71-54. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

AP

Dunk City is back at it again.

Florida Gulf Coast ripped Fairleigh Dickinson, 96-65, on Tuesday night in a First Four matchup between two 16 seeds.

The Eagles will now travel to Raleigh, N.C. to face the East region’s top seed, North Carolina on Thursday night.

In its first NCAA tournament appearance since captivating the country in their 2013 run to the Sweet 16 as a 15th seed, the Eagles jumped all over the Knights from the outset and never looked back. They scored the game’s first 11 points and never let up en route to the 31-point shellacking.

Marc Eddy Norelia mad 10 of his 11 shots to finish with 20 points while Julian DeBose and Christian Terrell both had 14 points as the Eagles shot 59.6 percent from the floor while holding the Knights to 32.9 percent.

Earl Potts, Jr. led the way for Fairleigh Dickinson with 16 points.

The Tar Heels and FGCU will tip off at 7:20 p.m. ET on Thursday evening with the game being broadcast by TBS.

The Eagles became the first No. 15 seed to reach the Sweet 16 three years ago, and they will have the opportunity to make history again as no No. 16 has ever beaten a No. 1. That, of course, would be a monumental task as North Carolina, besides being one of the sport’s all-time powerful programs, finished this season as the ACC’s regular season and conference champions, having won five-straight games entering the postseason and with a pair of All-Americans in Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige.