| 3/22/2024 | Men’s Basketball | Box Score BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Florida Atlantic’s men’s basketball team stormed their way back from a second half deficit but fell to Northwestern in overtime by a score of 77-65 in the 2024 NCAA Tournament’s Round of 64 on Friday afternoon. The Owls, who entered the game with the 16th best scoring offense in the nation at 82.5 points per game, had to play a defensive game most of the way. It was a true tale of two halves; both teams shot under 33% from the field in the first and over 50% in the second as FAU battled the whole way no matter what adversity came their way. FIRST HALF Scores were hard to come by early on with neither team converting a field goal for almost three minutes. But the Owls struck first with a cutting layup from junior guard Alijah Martin. The Wildcats were held without a real score for the opening five minutes before a three-point basket tied the game at the first media timeout. It took over 14 minutes before FAU made a shot from beyond the arc before junior guard Johnell Davis swished one from the left corner. Trailing 12-8 halfway through the period, the Owls found momentum with an 8-0 run over the course of five minutes. Davis willed his way inside and threw up a layup at the halftime buzzer to put the Owls up 20-19. FAU entered the locker room with their season low of points in a half, but in turn had their season best in points allowed. The team’s top three scorers on the season: Davis, Martin, and junior center Vlad Goldin, combined for all 20 of their points, led by Davis’ 11. SECOND HALF Soon, the Wildcats found their shooting touch, going on a 7-0 run to take an eight-point lead. In a déjà vu moment from last season when the Owls put the ball in the hands of their trusted seniors: this time two of them with guard Bryan Greenlee, who scored seven straight points for the team and Brandon Weatherspoon who scored 10 in the second half. But the Wildcats kept scoring and the Owls found themselves trailing by nine with six minutes to play. Goldin muscled his way for two straight scores followed by a triple from Weatherspoon to cut the deficit to four in less than a minute.A flagrant foul on Northwestern put Goldin at the line, who sank two free throws to bring the score to 56-54. He got to the line on the very next possession for a tie ball game with under two minutes to go.And then it was on. Davis drove in for the layup with just less than a minute on the clock to take a 58-56 lead. Ultimately, the ball ended in the hands of Northwestern who scored a layup of their own to tie the game at 58, sending the Owls into their fifth overtime outing of the season. OVERTIME Northwestern struck first and then some, making all five of their field goals and seven of their eight free throw attempts. A 13-point deficit was too much to overcome, ending Florida Atlantic’s season, but not taking away from an incredible two-year stretch that saw the Owls solidify themselves as one of the nation’s best, winning 60 games, third most in Division I basketball. QUOTABLE Head Coach Dusty May “I’d like to express gratitude for taking so many people on a great ride and we had great moments today. Credit Northwestern. They are statistically better in almost every facet of the game, and we just were not at our best and they made enough plays to win. But credit them. They made them when they needed to.” Junior Center Vlad Goldin “I don’t think disappointed is the right word because in this tournament, there is, like, only good teams, and every game is the last. Every game is important and it’s like, as we say, the most important game is next game.” Senior Guard Bryan Greenlee “Very bittersweet. Obviously you want to win every game in this tournament. And at that point we knew it was over for us, but at the same time, I’m just appreciative of everybody that’s in that locker room, from the coaching staff to the players. And I know that at the end of the day, it’s bigger than basketball. So I was just expressing my gratitude to everybody, just thanking them for what they gave me these past four years that I’ve been here and that’s pretty much it.” STATS & NOTES Entering the game ranked third in the nation in field goal percentage, Goldin scored 19 points on 5-for-6 shooting Goldin also had a team-leading 19 points and four blocks Davis added three steals to his 18 points Weatherspoon was the Owls’ third double-digit scorer with 10 points, all in the second period 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. |
