Florida Atlantic Set for Sweet 16

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. – The Owls are still dancing.

Florida Atlantic University’s men’s basketball team has made the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. The east region’s No. 9 seed FAU (33-3) will play the No. 4 seed Tennessee Volunteers (25-10) on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. Tip off is set for around 9 p.m. EST.

Thursday’s winner will advance to the Elite Eight on Saturday for a chance to win the east region and qualify for the Final Four, to be held in Houston.

No. 9 Seed Florida Atlantic (33-3) vs. No. 4 Seed Tennessee (25-10)
Game Details	New York City, New York \| March 23 \| Madison Square Garden 9:15 p.m. ET
Game Coverage	Watch: TBS \| Tickets Listen: FoxSports 640am South Florida \| Game Notes Twitter: @FAUMBB
FAU Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule
Tennessee Links	News \| Roster \| Schedule

After a dominant 28-3 regular season, followed by three more wins to achieve their first ever Conference USA championship, the Owls qualified for the NCAA tournament for just the second time in school history and first since 2002. This added to their season accolades that includes their most wins (33), highest AP national ranking (19) and an undefeated record at home (17-0)

Over the first two rounds, FAU further proved they belong with the best in the nation, recording not only their first, but also their second tournament wins in school history at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Both victories, first over the No. 8 seeded Memphis Tigers and then the No. 16 seed FDU Knights, were scrappy affairs with low shooting percentages that saw the Owls have to play from behind in the second half. Ultimately, a layup by Redshirt Freshman Nick Boyd with just two seconds left won the ball game over Memphis, 66-65, and a historic performance from Sophomore guard Johnell Davis with a second-half scoring explosion helped the Owls pull away from FDU by a score of 78-70.

The Owls are now off to the Garden as Head Coach Dusty May and Florida Atlantic find themselves as one of the last 16 teams remaining in the entire NCAA. But just like all season, they are determined to continue to play their signature team-first style of basketball and not let themselves by blinded by the growing spotlight.

QUOTABLE

Head Coach Dusty May
On playing in the Sweet Sixteen
“We’re extremely excited to be playing in the Garden, in the Sweet Sixteen. What a moment for our guys. We’re here to compete.”

On the matchup against Tennessee
“They keep the ball out of the paint and close to shooters with their size and length. But most importantly, it’s their intensity and their physicality. They play every single possession like it’s their last.”

Redshirt Freshman Guard Nick Boyd
On playing at Madison Square Garden
“I’ve been here multiple times as a spectator. Watched the Big East tournament, my uncle was coaching in it so it was fun. Obviously to be on the court, it’s a different feeling and I’m able to embrace it all.”

On the matchup against Tennessee
“The physicality stood out to me from the jump. I feel like that’s been the trend for us the whole year. We’re an undersized group, but we’ve got heart. And [we] just have to get ourselves mentally prepared and ready to really be physical and try to match that the best you can and give yourself a chance to go to the Elite Eight.”

Sophomore Forward Giancarlo Rosado
On the matchup against Tennessee
“We’re bringing our hardhat. We know Tennessee is physical, but we aren’t worried about that. They’re scrappy, we’re scrappy. We’re going to compete tomorrow.”

On the team’s focus
“We’re taking it one game at a time right now. We’re really locked in and focused on Tennessee. Not really worried about Houston, if we’re blessed enough to get to Houston, we’ll take care of business when we get there, but we’re trying to take care of business tomorrow night.”

NEWS & NOTES

With a win against the Volunteers, head coach Dusty May would win his 100th career game, all coming at the helm of the Owls. Coach May is already far and away the most successful FAU head coach of all time and is well alone on top of the mountain of the program’s coaching wins list, with 23 more victories ahead of second place
Johnell Davis had a game for the ages in the Round of 32, with 29 points (23 in the second half), 12 rebounds, five assists, and five steals. The 25+, 10+, 5+ assists and steals stat line is the first of its kind in NCAA tournament history
Giancarlo Rosado is becoming noticed on the national stage. Through two games, he made his first nine shots from the field. For the tournament, Rosado currently ranks in second place in true shooting percentage among all players averaging five or more field goal attempts
Alijah Martin got hot early on against FDU, starting out with seven points on 3-3 shooting to spark an early 9-0 lead. He finished the night with 14 points, second on the team
Nick Boyd cemented his name in March Madness lore with his game-winner against Memphis and has been a constant clutch force throughout the tournament. In both rounds, he has nailed a three-point shot in the second half that would help the Owls tie their games
The Owls are known for spreading the ball around and have won the assist battle in 33 out of 36 games. On the season, they are averaging 14.6 compared to opponents 8.0
FAU is a team where player can step up on any given night, as evidenced by the eight different Owls who have led the team in scoring in a game this season
The Owls tied their season high in blocks against FDU with five
Much like the Owls, Tennessee spreads the scoring share around, with six players averaging over 8 points-per-game and their top scorer, senior guard Santiago Vescovi, tallies 12.7 points a night.
FAU’s ability to knock down their shots from beyond the arc (currently at a 36.7% clip), will be tested against Tennessee, who is the number one team in the nation at defending three-pointers, holding teams to 26.4%