| BOCA RATON (FAUSports.com) — The Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team will look for a 10th straight home win when the Old Dominion Monarchs visit The Burrow Tuesday evening. FAU is averaging 81.4 points per game during the nine-game home winning streak, while allowing just 61.7 points per game. The Owls’ home winning streak dates back to Dec. 1. FAU is currently leading the pack in the race for the Conference USA East Division championship. Saturday’s win over Southern Miss, combined with a Middle Tennessee State loss to UAB, pushed FAU back into pole position in the East. FAU is 14-9 overall and 7-3 in Conference USA. FAU’s top mark for C-USA victories in a season is eight (2018-19). The Owls have eight conference games remaining this season. ODU enters the contest 9-13 overall and 4-5 in league play. The Monarchs have five of their last seven. They haven’t won on the road since Dec. 30 at FIU. Old Dominion holds an 11-3 lead in the all-time series and has won the last two meetings. The Monarchs swept a pair from FAU in Norfolk last season by counts of 71-67 and 64-55. The FAU-Old Dominion tilt will be heard in the South Florida area on Fox Sports 640 AM and will be streamed on CUSA TV. Cleaning the Glass Rebounding has been a point of emphasis for the Owls the last two seasons. The Owls are No. 1 in CUSA and No. 44 in the nation in rebound margin at +5.3. In 19 of 23 games this year, FAU has tied or outrebounded the opposition. FAU has owned the rebounding edge by 10 or more seven times, with a high of +17 (at UNM). The Owls held a 40-32 edge in Saturday’s win over Southern Miss. Home Sweet Home In the Dusty May era, FAU has been very successful on Abessinio Court. When playing at The Burrow, the Owls have won more than 77 percent of their contests under May (42-12, .778). FAU has been even better on its home floor since May’s first season. Since 2019, FAU is 33-6 at FAU Arena for an .846 winning percentage. The Owls are currently in the midst of an nine-game home winning streak. Take Two, They’re Free FAU struggled a bit from the free throw line last season, converting at a .661 clip. The Owls have improved that greatly this season, currently converting at a rate of .706 from the charity stripe. Last Time Out – FAU 84, Southern Miss 57 A big first-half offensive outburst from the Florida Atlantic University men’s basketball team led the Owls to a 84-57 Conference USA victory over Southern Miss Saturday at FAU Arena. The victory put FAU in first place in the C-USA USA East Division, continuing the Owls’ best start ever in Conference USA. Brandon Weatherspoon recorded a career-best and team-leading 16 points off the bench to lead five Owls in double figures. Everett Winchester and Michael Forrest added 13, while Bitumba Baruti added 10 off the bench and Vlad Goldin tallied 10 as well. Forrest also led the way with six rebounds and five assists. “I’m very proud of our effort, especially our reserves, our bench guys,” head coach Dusty May said. “There’s not much separation on our team between the starters and reserves. Hats off to those guys. Brandon Weatherspoon, hats off to him. Overall, I thought our guys played really, really well. They took what the defense gave them.” FAU (14-9, 7-3 CUSA) put together a 17-3 run, including a pair of 3-pointers from Forrest and one from Baruti, early in the contest to grab a 24-11 lead midway through the first half. The Owls eventually built an 18-point lead late in the first half, with Weatherspoon coming off the bench to score eight points in the opening stanza. Southern Miss (6-16, 1-8 CUSA) looked to grab some momentum in the final minutes of the half. An 8-0 Golden Eagle run cut the FAU lead to 10, 40-30. A pair of Vlad Goldin free throws stemmed the tide and gave FAU a 42-30 edge at the intermission. It was all FAU in the second half. Southern Miss never got closer than the 12 they trailed by at halftime. FAU extended its lead to 24 on back-to-back 3-pointers from Baruti and Alijah Martin midway through the second half. The Owls continued to build their advantage, pushing to an edge of as many as 28 en route to the 27-point victory. |
