| 3/15/2024 | Men’s Basketball FORT WORTH, Texas. – The No. 2 seed Florida Atlantic’s men’s basketball team are moving onto the semifinals of the 2024 American Athletic Conference Championship Tournament after taking down No. 7 North Texas, 77-71, on Friday evening. Buckets did not come easy in a battle between the conference’s top scoring offense and top scoring defense, but the Owls brought a physical presence that ultimately could not be matched. Junior center Vlad Goldin led the way yet again with a 21-point, 10 rebound outing with junior guards Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin as well as redshirt sophomore guard Nick Boyd adding double-digit scoring performances of their own. FIRST HALF The Owls came out swinging on both ends of the floor, holding North Texas without a point for five minutes and went on a 9-0 run in the process. Nine of the team’s first 10 field goals came from the paint, as the team’s top three scorers, Goldin Davis, and Martin, aggressively attacked the hoop for powerful scores inside. Florida Atlantic entered the locker room with a slight 35-30 advantage, but adversity would soon strike. SECOND HALF A back-and-forth opening to the half saw seven lead changes in the first four minutes. The Mean Green took the lead, one not relinquished for over 10 minutes. But FAU stayed right with them, not letting the deficit reach more than four points. A contested Goldin found a cutting Martin on a layup to tie the game at 58 with five-and-a-half minutes to go, sparking a 7-0 run. The Owl offense came to life with 15 points in the final three minutes. With two minutes and 42 seconds remaining, Goldin muscled his way to the hoop on a three-point play to turn a tied game into a three-point lead. Florida Atlantic was on top for the rest of the way, making five of their last seven shots to seal the win. QUOTABLE Head Coach Dusty May “We are very grateful to come away with a hard-fought win against a program, team and staff that we couldn’t respect any more…Very proud of our team to fight and compete and to just find different ways. These guys, they are very confident. They expect to win, but they don’t expect it just to happen. They go earn it and I thought down the stretch the last five minutes the 50/50 basketballs, the rim protection, our grittiness really pulled us through and allowed to us get a few baskets in transition and it came down to these guys making plays, big-time rebounds, big-time shots, great screens. I thought our screens were as good as they have been this year down the stretch. So very proud, but in any tournament format, it’s on to the next.” On staying poised in tough situations Redshirt Sophomore Guard Nick Boyd “Last year and this year, both years, especially this year, we faced a lot of tough teams and everybody was gunning for us and wanted our name. So this whole year we [have] just been fighting and fighting and we just stayed together and it’s just another game where we just stayed poised, believed in each other, and get a big win as a team.” Junior Center Vlad Goldin “I feel like we practice the same way we play. We, have so many close games in practice, so even people who don’t get too many reps in the game, they are still ready to play because that is what we do in practice.” STATS & NOTES Goldin has scored 20+ points in seven of his last nine games and has recorded a double-double in two straight Davis scored his 18 points on 8-for-11 shooting. He was a nightmare matchup for UNT this season, averaging 25 points in three games Redshirt sophomore guard Nick Boyd tied his season high with seven rebounds in addition to his 12 points All nine Owls who saw action scored at least one point Senior guard Brandon Weatherspoon had three steals, tying his career high for the fourth time this season FAU won the battle in the paint, outscoring UNT 42-28Though both teams nabbed 12 offensive boards, Florida Atlantic were able to turn them into scores with 17 second chance points to the Mean Green’s six UP NEXT Now in the semifinals, the Owls will take on the winner of the No. 3 Charlotte vs. No. 11 Temple matchup and play on Saturday at 5 p.m. The game is set to air on ESPN2. FOLLOW THE OWLS To stay up to date on all things FAU men’s basketball, follow the Owls on social media @FAUMBB.Florida Atlantic’s 2023-24 season is sponsored by Phil Smith Kia/Phil Smith Acura. |
