Mike Anderson traces the growth of this year’s basketball team back to its late-August trip to Canada for three exhibition games.

“We got a sneak preview there of what we were capable of doing,” he said. “We played pretty good ball there without a whole lot of practice (before).”

The Tigers are 8-1 going into Saturday’s game at home against Stetson (free parking just announced by the school for the game, by the way.)

“We see now that we have more options,” Anderson said of his team’s growth. “We have a nice mixture of older guys and younger guys with some talent. It’s going to be this guy one night, another guy on another night. (Freshmen guards) Marcus Denmon and Kim English are finding their way. Miguel Paul has had some games. Each night a different guy.”

But the constants, of course, have been forwards Leo Lyons and DeMarre Carroll. “They’re playing the best they’ve been since they’ve been here,” Anderson said.

Anderson knows the competition gets tougher as conference play nears. “It gets stiffer, teams are able to match up with us from an athletic and a bench standpoint. But I like this team right now. They like one another. They are playing unselfish.”

And a lot of that goes back to their early trip to Canada and the trip to Puerto Rico as well.

“It was a chance to spend time and bond,” Anderson said. “That was probably even more imperative (with the team’s many new players. It was a chance to spend more time togehter. And there is a reflection of that taking place on the court. It gave us a jump start on a lot of different things.”