NEW YORK CITY - There will be at least one connection to Northwest in Thursday evening's NCAA Sweet 16 contest between No. 4 seed Tennessee and ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic University.

Former Ranger forward and Second Team All-MACCC selection Isaiah Gaines will join the rest of his FAU teammates in taking on the Vols in the Big Apple tonight, a game that will played in the famed Madison Square Garden. The winner of this game will face off against the winner of No. 3 seed Kansas State and No. 7 Michigan State.

Gaines, a native of Pensacola, Fla., led Northwest in total rebounds (223) and blocks (41) last season, while averaging 13.6 points per game and finishing as the Rangers' second-leading scorer. He also collected 50 assists for the season, finishing second on the team in that category.

One of Gaines' best performances in his lone season at Northwest came in the 2021-22 regular season finale at Copiah-Lincoln, where he finished with 28 points and 17 rebounds. He also earned MACCC Player of the Week honors on January 11 and went viral for his full-court buzzer beater at Itawamba on January 31, a play that earned him a #SCTop10 nod on ESPN's SportsCenter.

Though Gaines has only started in one game for Florida Atlantic this season, he has played in 25 total games off the bench, averaging 1.8 points and 1.6 rebounds. He has also collected six assists, six steals and four blocks, and played a handful of minutes during the Owls' Conference USA Tournament run, which ended with FAU being crowned as the conference tourney champion.

This season, the Owls have collected the most wins in a single season (33), the highest AP national ranking (#19) and an undefeated record at home. This is also only the second time in program history that FAU has qualified for the NCAA Division I Tournament, with the program's first appearance dating back to 2002.

Gaines is the first former Northwest men's basketball player to appear in the NCAA Division I Tournament since R.J. Duhart helped Appalachian State to the "Big Dance" in 2021. Prior to that, the last Ranger to compete in March Madness was Marcus Avant, who guided UCF to the 2005 tournament.

Gaines is one of six players to sign with a four-year program since the start of Shane Oakley's head coaching tenure during the 2018-19 campaign. Five of the six went to Division I programs, including former Southland Conference Player of the Year Jitaurious "Ty" Gordon (Troy/Nicholls State).

Tipoff between the Owls and Tennessee is scheduled for 8:15 P.M. Central on TBS.